Careful What You Wish For
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: Poisandra unleashes one of Sledge's most dangerous prisoners on the Rangers. The question is, will her unusual power be the Rangers' undoing?
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

**Rating:** T – there will be some mild adult themes and language.

It was late afternoon, and the cafe was quiet following the lunch rush. Well, lunch RUSH would probably have been glorifying it. Amber Beach had a stretch of warm weather recently, far hotter than normal. The upshot was that most people were heading out of town, or going to the beach or the mountains, pretty much anywhere BUT the museum. No one really wanted to be shut up indoors when the sun was hitting record highs a good couple of months before it really turned to summer.

She looked around once more at the deserted dining room. If the lights and the music weren't on, it would be impossible to tell if the place was even open. Even at the height of lunch time, she had served a grand total of three customers. The upshot was...everyone was bored! They were so bored that after a quick game of rock, paper scissors to determine who was the unlucky one that had to stick around and man the cafe she was now on her own. Stupid Koda, how could she not have figured out that the only one he understood how to make was rock?

Koda had left the restaurant, telling them he was going out riding. He had learned to ride from a young kid named Peter he had saved in one of their battles. It was a good thing, it meant he now knew how to use his Raptor Cycle, but more than that, he found he really enjoyed it. Kendall had bought him a mountain bike that he loved riding whenever he wasn't needed at the museum. Riley was likely in the lab practicing. He pretty much always practiced any time he wasn't on shift. The kid was exhausting to be around. Between his studies under Kendall, and his shifts at the museum, he already had a pretty full schedule, and yet any time he had other than that, he was always out somewhere training.

Tyler and Chase had gone somewhere, Chase telling her that he was going to let Tyler earn some money to help pay off what he owed Kendall to repair the damage he had done to the museum's jeep. Chase had said that Moana, his friend at the junk shop was looking for a hand clearing up the shop and doing a stock take and was willing to pay for help. Remembering the cluttered tiny shop, and the mass of junk from her last visit, Shelby really didn't envy Tyler, but she knew if he didn't want to be broke for the next six months, he really couldn't afford to turn down anything that would help him pay off what he owed.

That left her, all alone, bored out of her mind. She had figured that she could kill some time, and finally set up the replacement phone she had bought after Koda had murdered her old one with a large stick in a panic. While it gave her time to read through the instruction manual of her new cell phone and enter in all her contacts, that had only killed off about an hour. Now, she was back to staring at the walls.

As Kendall was walking past, Shelby vaulted over the counter to run after her. She caught up to Kendall, grabbing her shoulder.

"Ms Morgan?" She asked. Kendall just turned around, looking somewhat annoyed. It was only then that Shelby noticed she was holding a phone, and was clearly taking a call.

"I'm on the phone." Kendall told her, going back to her conversation. "Sorry about that interruption, you were saying you wanted to book a private function? We don't normally...well that's a very generous donation...wait, what kind of function?"

Shelby just stood, patiently waiting as Kendall listened to the caller on the other end. She furrowed her brows in confusion.

"You want to book a wedding?" She asked in a slightly surprised tone. "In a dinosaur museum?"

She listened to the caller on the other end explaining something.

"Well, like I said, we don't normally do things like that so I really don't have anything prepared as far as a template goes, can you come into the museum?" She asked. She clicked her fingers, pointing to the check pad in Shelby's apron. Shelby handed her the pad and a pen. "Alright, I can make an appointment for you...Thursday afternoon? That way we can discuss what you'd like and discuss what we can do for you. How does 2PM sound? OK, that's great; I'll see you then Miss Moran."

With that, she hung up the phone. She tore off the note and handed Shelby back the pad.

"Did I hear you say someone wanted to book a wedding here?" Shelby asked her.

"Apparently her girlfriend has a thing for dragons and dinosaurs are the next best thing." Kendall replied, putting the note away. "What can I do for you Shelby?"

"I was just wondering, there's really nothing going on here, and it's such a great day out..."

"You want to close early?" Kendall asked.

"Well, you did say there was an area you wanted to check out as a possible lead for another fossil." She reminded her. "And the weather is pretty much ideal..."

"Shelby, I know you want to go on a dig, and I promise you that you will, but we can't just close the museum any time we feel like it." Kendall answered. "It's bad enough all the other staff quit when Scrapper attacked the museum. Do you think its easy running this place by myself when you all run off?"

"But there's no one here!" Shelby reiterated. "There hasn't been one customer in over two hours!"

"So what would you call that?" Kendall asked as she pointed to the counter. Shelby just groaned, seeing that a young woman had walked in while they were talking. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not exactly a wedding planner, so I need to start thinking about what exactly goes into hosting a wedding."

With that, she headed back towards the lab. Shelby trudged back to the cafe, rounding the counter.

"Sorry about the wait." She said as she arrived.

"Oh...I was starting to wonder if you were open." The girl replied. She was a little shorter than Shelby, with shoulder-length blonde hair, held back by a couple of plaits she had made in her fringe, before tying them back behind her head. She was wearing a pale, aquamarine t-shirt, and black denims, and black, heeled boots. She smiled brightly as she saw Shelby.

"Yeah, the place is pretty dead today. It's usually a lot busier." Shelby answered. "Now, what can I get you?"

"Here's the thing, I'm actually kind of new in town." The girl said a little hesitantly. "I was looking for a job?"

"Oh...well...its Ms Morgan you'd need to speak to about that." Shelby said. "I could call her..."

"Maybe after lunch." She answered. "What's good on the menu?"

"Well, the biggest seller is the Bronto Burger." Shelby said checking out the menu. "But if you're looking for something a little lighter, I quite like the Pterodactyl club sandwich."

"That sounds great." She said with a smile. "I'm Christie by the way."

"Shelby" Shelby replied, shaking her hand. She inspected the girl thoughtfully for a moment. "I'll just go and get your order. Sit wherever you'd like, there's no shortage of tables."

"I'll be fine here." Christie assured her as she pulled up a stool. Shelby just went to prepare her order.

Over at Moana's shop, Tyler was struggling with a couple of heavy boxes, putting them down outside, finally able to catch his breath. When he got there, he saw Chase sitting on a deck chair, sipping a soda as he listened to some music.

"Don't strain yourself." Tyler teased him. Chase just shrugged.

"I'm only thinking of you mate." He told Tyler.

"Explain how you sitting on your ass helps me again?" Tyler asked.

"Well, if I help, then I'll be entitled to half the money Moana's paying us to do this for her." Chase explained as he placed his hands behind his head, leaning back casually. "And that would mean you'd have a lot less money to pay back Kendall, which would mean you'd have longer to wait until you paid her back."

"You know, the frightening thing is, that actually makes sense." Tyler chuckled as he carried on with his work. He picked up a ledger, marking down everything he pulled out of the store room. "It's no wonder she got behind on her inventory. Where'd she even get all this junk?"

"She's always been a bit of a hoarder." Chase told him. Tyler just furrowed his brows.

"I thought you only met her when you got your Energem." He stated. Chase shook his head.

"She lived near my street when I was growing up. She ran a shop just like this back home." Chase explained. "Everyone thought she was a whack job, but I thought some of the stuff was kinda creepy and cool. I used to check out her shop all the time as a kid. I even bought a few Maori artefacts."

"So that's where you got those creepy carvings in the apartment?" Tyler asked him. Chase just nodded. "So you got the Energem from her..."

"Before she left New Zealand." Chase told him. "I couldn't believe it when I saw her shop here. She told me she got a vision after she gave me the Energem that she needed to be here. Apparently she pretty much just packed up everything she owned and left the following day."

"Vision?" Tyler asked him. "Do you believe in any of that stuff?"

"Not really, but I do have to admit that she's seen and done some stuff I can't really explain." Chase told him. "Let's just say I'm not willing to rule it out."

"Do you think...maybe she might be able to see something about a person...if she had something of theirs?" Tyler asked, looking to his father's bracelet. Chase knew what he was thinking.

"I'm not sure how it works, but we can always ask when she gets back." He told him. "Anyway, get back to work, that stuff won't sort itself out."

"Tyler just went back to the task in hand; while Chase put his ear buds back in and settled down to enjoy the sun. Tyler didn't really believe in fortune tellers or spirits or all that kind of stuff, but after some of the things he had already seen, he knew there was a lot more to the universe than he originally believed. It wasn't a huge stretch of the imagination to believe that someone might have mental abilities he didn't understand in a world where the spirit of a dinosaur had bonded to him giving him incredible power. If nothing else, it wasn't as if he had anything to lose by giving it a shot. Would she be able to give him some idea where he might look next?

Up on Sledge's ship, Fury was doing his rounds, checking on the prisoners. Viviks were busy doling out their evening rations. These pitiful wretches knew better than to beg for any kind of mercy. It was an alien concept on this ship. He slammed his sword into the bars as some reached out for him, causing them to pull back inside their cells.

"Settle down!" He warned them as he made his way though. "Keep it up and you'll REALLY suffer!"

With that, he headed through a large, secure door into a deeper section of the ship, to the solitary confinement cells. General population was bad enough, but solitary confinement was reserved for those that were extended a whole new level of cruelty for a variety of reasons. More often than not, it was used as punishment for misbehaviour for the general population. There were very few who stayed in solitary for extended periods. Some prisoners though had powers so unique or so dangerous, that they needed the additional security of the solitary cells.

Fury made his way through the corridor, stopping by each of the occupied cells in turn, checking the viewing screen to see the prisoners inside. The other advantage of solitary was that it was easier to adapt a cell for an inmate that needed special arrangements. One of the cells housed a creature who could channel huge amounts of electrical energy, and so he was in a cell that was always filled to knee height with water.

He approached another cell, but he stopped still as he noticed something was off. The cell door was open ajar. He gripped his sword tightly as he approached.

He opened the door slowly with the tip of his sword, keeping clear of the door in case the inmate was waiting in ambush. He swung around into the cell, ready to fight, but found no sign of the prisoner.

As he made his way inside, all he could find was a huge, metal chair, covered in restraints designed to hold a prisoner completely immobile, unable to move an inch. There were even covers that would have enclosed the hands, preventing the prisoner using their fingers in case they somehow got hold of something to pick the locks. He picked up a helmet from the chair, a sensory isolation helmet that would completely block out any visual or auditory stimulus, rendering the unfortunate victim completely blind and deaf. This prisoner was so dangerous, that they had been kept unable to even see or hear.

He threw the helmet aside and ran to the bridge, finding Sledge sitting, looking completely bored and uninterested as Poisandra danced around, carrying her wedding folder, running off more ideas of the lavish wedding she was looking forward to.

"Ooh...and this place looks absolutely perfect for the ceremony! It's beautiful and sunny and has all these wonderful trees...we'll need to get rid of all the people though, I don't want any gate crashers." She told him, looking to Wrench. "How many people could possibly live in this Hawaii place anyway?"

"Master Sledge, one of your maximum security prisoners has escaped!" Fury yelled. Sledge got up from his throne.

"WHAT?" He yelled.

"I was doing the rounds of the solitary block. Cell 417 is empty!" He told him.

"417?" Sledge asked. "I want every inch of the ship searched! Everyone on high alert! That prisoner is so dangerous..."

"Oh, I know how dangerous she is." Poisandra said in a sweet little sing-song voice. "That's exactly why I released her."

"You did WHAT?" Sledge asked. "Do you remember what I went through to capture her the first time? She slaughtered dozens of my comrades! She sent an entire solar system into chaos...she almost destroyed a whole GALAXY!"

"Exactly, so just imagine all the fun chaos she can wreak among the Rangers." She told him. "We won't have to lift a finger, the Rangers will destroy themselves!"

"I like the way you think!" Sledge responded, scooping her up in his arms.

"Master Sledge, she released one of your most dangerous prisoners..."

"It's ingenious!" Sledge declared proudly. "Perhaps you should take notes Fury. You might just learn something."

Fury just stormed out of the bridge, growling as he went.

Back at the museum, Shelby delivered Christie's order, and rounded the corner of the counter, sitting with her.

"I've never seen you around before." Shelby stated. "When did you get into town?"

"I only got here a few days ago. I've not even had a chance to unpack." She admitted, taking a bite of her sandwich. "This seems like a really nice neighbourhood. I feel like I'm going to really like it here."

"Most people around here are pretty nice. I grew up here." Shelby answered. "So are you going to school here or...?"

"I graduated last summer." Christie told her. "I'm just looking for a job. I really need to get some money together."

"I know the feeling." Shelby said, rolling her eyes. "College is a little out of my price range at the moment."

"No WAY! I'm saving for college too!" Christie yelled. "I'm trying to get into culinary college!"

"Palaeontology!" Shelby said, gesturing to herself, smiling brightly. Christie returned the gesture as she leaned in to take some fries from her plate. Shelby saw a necklace slip out of her t-shirt, hanging down.

"Say, that's really nice." Shelby complimented her. "Can I see it?"

Christie let her take a closer look. It was a simple silver chain, with an engraved pendant in the end, housing a bright, aquamarine stone. Shelby just looked to it.

"Wow, this is really something. Where did you get it?" She asked.

"It was my moms; she gave it to me before she died." Christie told her. "When I'm wearing it, I feel her spirit...kind of like she's still with me you know?"

Just then, Kendall came back into the restaurant. Shelby just held up a hand.

"Hold that thought. Hey, Ms Morgan!" She called out. Kendall came over, seeing Shelby sitting with the customer. Shelby could see the way she was looking at her, and slipped off the stool. "Um...this is Christie, she was wondering if she could have a job here."

"Oh...right." Kendall answered, giving Shelby a little glare, before turning to Christie. "I don't really know if..."

"Ms Morgan, can I speak to you for a minute?" Shelby asked. Kendall excused herself as Shelby took her aside. "Ms Morgan, she's trying to get into culinary college, she's got to be good!"

"Shelby, you can't just go around offering jobs to anyone that walks in!" Kendall told her. "I'm the curator, I'm the one that hires the staff, and don't you think...?"

"I think that right now, you only have five staff members, and as you said yourself, we kind of need to keep running off." Shelby told her. "Come on Ms Morgan, give her a chance, I have a good feeling about her!"

"And that's SUCH a good recommendation." Kendall answered sarcastically. She just sighed. "Then again, I guess it would be good to have at least ONE employee that didn't run off every time the alarm went off."

"Come on Ms Morgan." Shelby said with a smile. Kendall just went back to Christie.

"Can you come in for an interview with a resume tomorrow morning?" Kendall asked her. Christie just nodded.

"Sure thing!" She answered.

"Well, I'm not promising anything...but we have lost a lot of staff recently so I guess we are hiring." Kendall told her. "I'll see you at 10 tomorrow morning."

"I'll be here!" She said excitedly. As Kendall left, Shelby just returned to her. "Thank you so much!"

"Yeah, I did what I could." Shelby told her. Christie noted her tone.

"You don't like each other much do you?" She asked. Shelby just shrugged.

"It's complicated." Shelby told her. "Ms Morgan's kind of...well...she really doesn't like taking suggestions from others. She likes to prove she can do things on her own."

"It sounds like she doesn't take you seriously." Christie commented.

"She's not so bad once you get to know her, but she is a little infuriating at times." Shelby told her. "I just wish she wouldn't look down on me all the time."

As she went into the back, Christie smiled and the gem on her necklace started glowing.

"Whatever you say." She said with a small laugh.


	2. The New Girl

Riley was hard at work training when Koda came back on his bike. He had to carry it down the entrance, but got back on almost as soon as he was in the lab. He had a huge, childish grin on his face as she started to ride circles around Riley, who because of the distraction found himself taking a couple of tennis balls to the chest and head.

"Koda!" He complained. "I was training!"

"Riley's training silly. This more fun!" Koda quipped cheerfully. "Look what Koda learn today."

With that, he popped a wheelie, managing to make it a few feet, before coming down, almost knocking over some equipment on Kendall's work bench. Riley just sighed as he turned off his tennis ball machine.

"Koda, careful! You've got no idea what that stuff is, you could blow the place sky high!" Riley told him. "Besides, you promised Kendall you wouldn't ride that thing in the lab. You know how much she freaks when Chase brings his board down here."

"Riley need relax." Koda told him. "Chase say, all work no play..."

"Yeah, Chase isn't exactly a glowing role model." Riley grumbled. Koda just put his bike in the rack Kendall had installed for him, ignoring Riley's comment. Although they'd only been a team for a couple of weeks, he had quickly learned that Riley felt some kind of need to prove himself. He was always training or studying any time he wasn't working. In some ways, it reminded him of his own little brother.

Although he was young, Taku wanted to be taken seriously in the tribe. When Koda was frozen, he was still too young to be considered a hunter or gatherer. Children his age generally tended to the less dangerous tasks like clearing the settlement or tending the fire, but Taku would already constantly try and follow Koda on his hunts. To this day, Koda suspected that the reason he was outside when he was cornered by that tiger was because he tried to hunt it alone, so prove he was strong like his brother. Riley showed a lot of the same determination; Koda just hoped it wasn't going to lead to him doing something crazy like Taku.

"Where Kendall?" Koda asked.

"She's planning a wedding." Riley told him. Koda just looked confused.

"Kendall getting married?" He asked. He hadn't seen any indication she was dating anyone. Heck, she was pretty much the furthest from dating that he could imagine. She never really seemed to show much interest in that whole side of life. She was much too busy with her work.

"No, not her! Someone wants to book the museum as a wedding venue." Riley told him. "It seems a little weird to be honest, but I suppose it'll be memorable at least."

"Seem like lot of trouble." Koda answered. "Back home, no wedding. Two people just...get together and stay together."

"Well, I guess that is a lot less hassle, but people want to make a fuss these days." Riley told him, putting away his Dino Sabre. "Anyway, we kind of left Shelby alone all day, maybe we should go up and help her clean up."

Meanwhile, up in the cafe, Shelby was just finishing up cleaning the restaurant, along with Christie's help. Although she didn't have her interview until the following day, she was getting along so well with Shelby that she had offered to stay and help. Tyler and Chase came in, Tyler flopping down into a booth, exhausted.

"Never again." Tyler grumbled. "My God, how does Moana manage to collect so much junk?"

"Look on the bright side Tyler; she was willing to pay well." Chase answered, patting his pocket. "Just think, you've just taken a month off your repayments to Kendall. That has to be worth it."

"Chase, I hurt places I never even knew I could hurt." Tyler replied. "And now we still have to help Shelby..."

As he said this though, they looked around and the cafe looked like it had already been cleaned. In fact, it looked spotless! It actually looked cleaner than on the day they had arrived at the museum. Shelby just looked to them, smiling.

"Nice timing guys, you managed to avoid ALL the work." Shelby teased them.

"Wow, I guess it really was quiet." Chase commented. "We were just coming back to help."

"Well, I managed to rustle up an extra pair of hands." Shelby told them, gesturing to Christie, who was just finishing wiping down a couple of the booths. She came across, looking to them. Koda and Riley arrived from another entrance, and seemed just as surprised that the restaurant was already clean.

"So these are the gentlemen who abandoned you to deal with all this yourself?" She asked.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. We all agreed there was only enough work for one of us." Shelby told her. "If I'd just been a little better at rock, paper scissors I'd have had the day off."

"Yeah, we were always planning on being back in time to help Shelby clean up." Chase assured her. "Wait...who's this?"

"Oh, sorry about that, guys, this is Christie, Christie; this is Riley, Koda, Chase and Tyler." Shelby introduced them all in turn. Christie shook hands with them all.

"Nice to meet you all." Christie answered.

"So...you're just some kind of good Samaritan that just randomly helps out restaurants?" Chase asked her. She just chuckled.

"Not exactly, I'm hoping to get a job here." She told them. "It looks like a really nice place."

"You're...getting a job here?" Chase asked them, looking sceptically to Shelby.

"Well, I have an interview tomorrow, but you know, hopefully Ms Morgan can find something for me." She responded.

"Well if this is the kind of work you can do in one day, I think you'd be a real asset to the team!" Riley said, looking impressed. "I don't think I've ever seen this place looking so good."

"How you at cooking?" Koda asked. Christie just smiled sweetly.

"I guess there's one way to find out." She told him. "Just go and have a seat, I'll be back in a little while."

As they went to sit down, Tyler smiled.

"Well, she seems nice." He stated.

"Guys, aren't we forgetting something?" Chase asked. "It's not like all we do here is flip burgers. Don't you think it'll make things tougher to keep under wraps if we have to sneak around a civilian?"

"Chase, will you just relax?" Shelby asked. "It's not like this is easy. We all know how hard it is juggling our duties here and our Ranger duties. Maybe having a few extra hands would lighten the load."

"I know I wasn't looking forward to coming back here to clean up after cleaning up Moana's black hole of junk." Tyler replied with a shrug. "I guess I wouldn't mind if there was someone else here to carry some of the load."

"Aw...poor baby's tired?" Shelby teased him. Tyler just laughed as Christie came back with some food.

"OK, since this is a burger bar, I figured that's probably the best thing to give you an idea how I handle a grill." Christie told them. Koda took the first bite of his burger, and his face completely lit up.

"Christie should stay!" He rushed out. The others all tried their food in turn. None of them could deny that Christie had made some of the best burgers they had tasted. Kendall came into the restaurant, looking around with a bright smile.

"Well, it looks like you guys managed to have a productive day." She complimented them. "This place looks great!"

"Hey, I'd love to take credit for this, but it's Christie you need to thank for this." Shelby told her proudly. "She even made this food!"

"It's really good." Tyler assured her. Kendall took a bite out of a burger, and considered it for a moment, before smiling.

"You really stayed and did all this?" Kendall asked.

"Well, Shelby and I just got on so well that I just ended up talking with her most of the day." Christie told her. "I can't just sit still, so I gave her a little hand."

"You did more than that; you practically rebuilt the restaurant from the ground up!" Kendall told her. "I'd still like to see a resume, but I think it's safe to say, if this is the kind of work we can expect from you, then the interview is going to be a formality."

"You mean...?"

"Pending a quick interview, I think it's fair to say there's a job here if you want it!" Kendall told her. "Anyway, I have a few more things to do in the office. Good work out here."

Chase followed Kendall out of the cafe, into her office.

"Kendall, what exactly are you doing?" He asked her.

"Right now, I'm figuring out exactly what kind of space we have to work with and figuring out how we can accommodate a wedding." She told him. "I took detailed measurements with a laser measuring tape, and now I'm figuring out how many people we can accommodate, before figuring out how much to budget for each guest."

"Wedding?" He asked. He then just shook his head. "No, I meant Christie; you all but guaranteed her a job."

"Chase, you know how much we've been struggling since that attack. You're the only staff I have right now." Kendall told him. "Now, I know it's convenient knowing that everyone on the premises knows what's going on, but right now one of the biggest problems I have is that you all keep running off any time the alarm sounds."

"Kendall..."

"I know Anton's not exactly concerned about making a huge profit from the museum, but I think he'd like it if we didn't run the place completely into the ground." She answered. "I know the museum's a secondary concern, but I really don't like failing at anything."

"I guess she did do a pretty good job." Chase conceded. "She also seems to get on with everyone. If she's half as good with the customers, she'll really be a Godsend."

"I guess time will tell on that." She agreed, reaching up for a folder on the top shelf of her unit. He frowned as she stretched, but could only just get her fingertips to it. Seeing her struggling, Chase went across, taking the folder down and handed it to her.

"So, I guess we could always give Christie a trial period, see how she works out." Chase conceded. "Sledge has been pretty quiet lately, so we should be able to keep an eye on her. If she works out, we could see about bringing in a few more staff."

"Well that's one problem out of the way." Kendall responded. "Now I just have to figure out a folio for this meeting I have on Thursday."

Meanwhile, back out in the restaurant, Christie was talking with the others, laughing with them as they got to know each other. Riley just checked the time, seeing that it was getting a little late.

"Man, I thought we'd have been back at the apartment by now." He commented, gathering up his laptop bag. "Sorry Christie, but I've got some of my online courses to do..."

"Oh come on Riley, you can do those anytime!" Shelby told him. "We were all going to..."

"Sorry, but I really need to get on with these. I don't want to fall behind." Riley told her. "I'll see you tomorrow Christie."

"Yeah, no doubt you will." Christie answered as he left. Chase just shook his head.

"Don't take it personally." Chase told her. "If Riley starts having fun for more than five minutes, he remembers he has work to do."

"It's alright; I think it's great to see a kid working to improve himself." Christie answered.

"I guess so." Chase told her. "I just wish he'd lighten up a bit."

Christie smiled, and held a hand over her necklace, preventing them seeing it starting to glow.

"Anyway, what are we doing tonight?" Shelby asked. "There's so much of the city still to see..."

"I probably should be getting back." Christie said a she started to get up from the table. "I've still got loads of unpacking to do back at my apartment, and I should probably get some rest in before tomorrow."

"Well, maybe we can take a rain check." Chase suggested. "I'm sure we can show you around the city properly later."

"That would be nice." Christie answered with a smile.

"Come on then Tyler; let's get Riley home before he turns into a pumpkin." Chase told him. "God forbid he'd only get THREE hours of study done before bed."

As they left, Christie just pulled in closer to Shelby.

"Wow, you really landed on your feet getting this gig." Christie told her. "You never told me you were surrounded by hotties!"

"I...guess I didn't want you to get scared off." Shelby told her. "Being the only girl is kind of a drag at times. The guys...sometimes they forget I'm not a guy."

"Well you're not the only girl now." Christie told her. "So...do you know if any of the guys are...you know...off the market?"

"As far as I know they're all single." Shelby assured her.

"Really?" Christie asked her. "I can't believe...I mean seriously? They're all super hot!"

"I guess they haven't been in town long enough to really get involved in anything like that." Shelby said with a shrug.

"Well, I promise I'll give Tyler a wide berth." Christie stated. Shelby just looked at her.

"Wait what...?"

"Oh come on, I saw how you are with him, it's obvious you're totally into him!" Christie told her. "I know what that's like; you don't have to deny it."

Shelby just looked around, before drawing in closer.

"If you say anything..." She started to warn her. "OK, he's...I can't stop thinking about him. He's..."

"Hey, I can see the attraction." Christie assured her. "Maybe you should consider making a move."

"I find it hard enough just talking to him." She answered. "I'm sure he's not interested anyway. He's always kind of on his own."

She got up, offering to show Christie out.

"I just wish he'd see me the same way I see him." Shelby sighed. As they walked out, Christie's necklace started glowing again, and she smiled.


	3. Kendall's Surprise

The following morning, Shelby's mom was in the kitchen, having her morning coffee while she caught up on the newspaper headlines just as she always did before heading out to work. She was currently working two jobs, her full-time job as a supervisor at the organic food marked, and two nights a week, she worked in the shipping department of an Amazon warehouse, preparing packages for delivery. It wasn't glamorous work, but it was enough to put food on the table and put a little bit aside for a rainy day. Unfortunately what it also meant was that free time was something of a foreign commodity for Mrs Watkins. Her morning coffee with a fresh newspaper was the closest thing she had to a break in the day.

"Outcry as insurance company refuses payout for monster battle damage." She commented, taking a sip as she read out a headline. "Several Amber Beach families forced to seek legal counsel as insurance company tries to rule damage caused in monster battles an Act of God...wow, those creeps will try ANYTHING not to pay out."

"Hey mom." Shelby declared, skipping into the kitchen, taking some toast from the table. "What were you reading?"

"Apparently some insurance company is trying to say since they could never reasonably expect to predict a war breaking out in the city, they're trying to rule the damage caused in monster battles as an Act of God." Mrs Watkins explained. "Which would mean..."

"They wouldn't have to pay out and people would have to deal with their own losses." Shelby surmised. "That's a pretty scumbag move."

"People are already trying to fight it though." She answered as she took another sip of her coffee. "Anyway, what are you so cheerful about? I thought you were still unhappy with Ms Morgan you haven't gone on a dig yet."

"Work in the cafe isn't all that bad." Shelby responded. Mrs Watkins folded up her newspaper and just looked to her daughter.

"Now I DEFINITELY know something's not right." She answered with a little smile. "Do you mind if I ask what exactly has brought about this sudden bout of high spirits?"

"I don't know. I guess...there's not much point complaining right?" Shelby said with a shrug as she ate some of her toast. "Ms Morgan already promised I would go on digs, I guess I can't rush when that'll happen."

"No offence, but I've never known you to be so philosophical. You are my daughter after all." Shelby's mom answered. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Tyler by any chance would it?"

Shelby almost spat out her OJ hearing her mom say this.

"What?" She asked.

"Shelby, even if it wasn't for the fact I hear you use Tyler's name in about five times as many conversations as anyone else's, you do sometimes talk in your sleep, and these walls aren't exactly thick." She told her daughter with a little smile. "So, has anything changed between you?"

"No, no nothing like that, we're just friends." Shelby replied, trying as much as possible not to give the impression she was disappointed that was the case. "OK, we're kind of hiring a new girl at the museum, Christie. She's pretty cool, and nice, and she is just an amazing worker."

"It sounds like you hit it off." Mrs Watkins said, looking to her happily. Shelby wasn't a bad person, she didn't go out of her way to be nasty to other people, but a couple of thing really didn't help her making friends. The first was that a lot of people really didn't get a lot of the things that were important to her. While other girls were concentrating on clothes or boys, she was getting what she needed from bargain stores to spend all her available money on books and journals. The other thing that stood in her way was that she wasn't shy about defending herself when people tried to take advantage of her and make her a victim. The upshot was she wasn't one of the popular kids, but she wasn't one of the ones that people ever dared to bully. She didn't have a lot of friends growing up. It made her happy to think that her daughter might be starting to surround herself with friends. "So, what's she like?"

In another part of town, Chase got out of bed and made his way, yawning into the kitchen. He walked straight past Tyler, who was doing one of his bizarre gymnastic workouts in the middle of the living room, and Riley, who was by the computer getting more of his coursework out of the way. He went to the fridge, pulling out a container of milk, and started drinking some.

"DUDE!" Tyler called out, springing from his hand-stand back onto his feet. Chase just looked to him wearily.

"What?" He asked.

"You're in your underwear again!" Tyler pointed out. "And you drank straight from the carton? Double room-mate foul!"

Chase realised he had once again walked into the living room in his underwear. He had only had room-mates for a short time; he'd been used to having an apartment to himself for so long, he sometimes made the occasional social slip up.

"OK, the boxers thing I'm sorry about, but the milk?" Chase asked.

"Sorry, I've got to side with Tyler on that one." Riley answered, not looking up from his work. "Oh, and Chase? Koda lives in a cave in the lab, and even he can put on some pants before walking into the room. You can buy more milk on the way back from work."

Chase shrugged, slugging more milk. He was already paying to replace it; he may as well drink the rest.

"I'm going for a shower." Chase told them. "What's for breakfast?"

"I'm just about to start on some waffles." Tyler told him. "They'll be ready by the time you're dressed."

Chase went back to his room, quaffing more of the milk on his way. Tyler just went to the waffle iron, looking out the batter.

"So, do you want one or two?" Tyler asked. "I have loads of fresh fruit too."

"I'm really not that hungry." Riley told him, shaking his head. "I'll get something later."

"Really?" Tyler asked. Riley looked to the food and wrinkled his nose, shaking his head.

"I can't face anything just now." He told him. Tyler just shrugged.

"That's more for us I guess." He answered, going back to the waffle iron.

As he was starting to heat it up however, they suddenly heard a scream. Chase came out, this time having pulled on a pair of jeans at least as the guys looked to each other.

"What the hell?" Tyler asked.

"That came from across the hall." Chase stated.

"KENDALL!" They all called out together. They ran out of their apartment, barrelling across the hall, only to find her door locked. They had a key for emergencies, and by the sounds of things, this would constitute an emergency. Chase started fumbling for the key, trying to get it into the lock.

"Kendall, can you hear us?" Tyler called through.

"Tyler!" She answered.

"What's happening? We heard a scream!" Tyler continued to call through as Chase worked the lock. "Are you hurt is anything...?"

"Tyler, don't come in!" She yelled as she heard the lock triggering.

"It's alright Kendall, we're coming!" Chase answered as he barged in through the door. The three guys stumbled inside, finding the main room empty. They didn't know what to expect to find. Kendall didn't exactly make a habit of screaming. They were expecting to find her hurt or perhaps under attack or something, but the apartment...it looked immaculate. It was definitely tidier than their place, but by the looks of things, it was almost exactly the same as the day she moved in. It wasn't a surprise Kendall kept her house in such fine order. However, it still begged the question, where was Kendall and why had she screamed?

"Kendall?" Chase asked. "Kendall, where are you?"

"I told you not to come in!" Kendall yelled.

"Kendall, why were you screaming?" Tyler asked. "Come on out so we can talk without shouting!"

"A...alright, just...give me a second to find something." Kendall answered. They all waited for a moment, before Kendall's bedroom door opened. As she walked in, wrapped in a blanket, the guys all stood, staring at her.

"Uh...isn't she...?"

"This is...OK, this is...um..."

Kendall stood before them, staring up at them. Kendall was never exactly a huge person, but she was clearly a good foot and a half shorter than normal. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

"I...I woke up like this." She told them.

"Well this is...um...how did this happen?" Chase asked.

"Damned if I know." Kendall asked him.

"Maybe we can figure this out at the lab." Riley suggested. "Come on, we can..."

"There's a little problem with that." Kendall interrupted him. "This blanket isn't a fashion statement. Um...none of my clothes fit."

"Right...uh...I'm on it." Riley answered as he ran from the room. The others just stood, looking at her for a moment.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Chase asked her.

"Would you mind leaving?" Kendall asked. It was only then they realised that Kendall was basically standing in front of them, wearing only a blanket. It had to be mortifying.

"Right...uh...of course." Tyler answered. "Come on Chase, we can wait at our place."

Shelby got to the museum, finding Christie already waiting outside. She smiled to see her new friend waiting, making her way over.

"Hey, someone's keen." She commented. "Here I thought I was early."

"I wanted to make a good impression." Christie told her. "I haven't exactly got the job yet."

"Come on, I think that's just a formality." Shelby assured her. "After how well you worked yesterday, I think the interview won't be particularly long. I wouldn't be surprised if there's already a uniform ready for you."

Christie just smiled.

"So I guess we have to wait for..."

Shelby knocked on the door. Christie just looked confused.

"I thought..."

"Koda's always here first." Shelby assured him, before realising this had to seem odd. She couldn't exactly explain the Ranger thing, then a thought occurred to her. "He pretty much lives here. He's always here first."

It was pretty quick thinking. She wasn't really lying to her. Koda DID live at the museum. Of course, saying it that way made it just seems like an expression indicating his dedication to his job. After a moment, Koda came and unlocked the door for them.

"Shelby, Christie...you come in." Koda said as he ushered them in. "You here early."

"I just want to make a good impression." Christie reiterated. "Maybe since I'm here you can show me around? That way I can get used to the place."

"Koda...busy. Kendall ask..."

"It's alright, I'll do it." Shelby told him. As he left, Christie just watched him go.

"Koda's nice." She commented. "He's a little strange, but...he's nice."

"He's definitely unique, I'll give him that." Shelby agreed. "Come on, I'll show you around."


	4. Little Problems

Chase and Tyler were pacing outside Kendall's apartment, waiting while Riley fetched her some clothes for her. Tyler was on the phone to Koda, explaining the situation to him.

"I...I don't know how it happened Koda, she said she just woke up like that." He started to explain. "Look, Sledge knows who we are; he's seen all of us unmorphed. Maybe...maybe he thinks he can get to us through the people we care about."

It worried Tyler to think about that. While they didn't know where the base was, where all their Ranger tech was hidden, Sledge and his crew had seen all of the Rangers unmorphed, almost from their first battle. They knew at least enough about them that monsters had attacked them while they were going about their business in Amber Beach. They could be recognised by Sledge's goons. It wasn't a huge leap of faith logically that knowing who the Rangers were that they wouldn't know who they hung around with. Fortunately, most of the team hadn't been in Amber Beach long enough to make many strong connections. Riley's family was way back on the farm, Tyler's mom was on the other side of the country, and Koda...well...his family were well beyond anyone's reach.

"I should probably call Moana." Chase told him. "If Sledge is going after our friends, he might know about her."

"Good idea." Tyler agreed, before returning to the phone. "We'll bring Kendall straight to the lab. Make sure no one's out back for the next half hour. We don't want anyone to see her like this. It'll be a little hard to explain. OK, there's Riley, we'll be there soon."

He hung up as the Green Ranger got back, carrying a shopping bag.

"Ms Morgan, I've got a few outfits here." Riley told her. "I bought a few things...I wasn't sure what would fit. Um...I'll leave it just inside the door!"

He opened the door ajar, sliding the bag inside, before closing it again.

"This is a new approach." Tyler stated. "We all know Sledge doesn't mind collateral damage, but he's never specifically targeted our friends before."

"Kendall's the only one we really hang around with who isn't a Ranger." Riley reminded him. "I guess if he was going to target anyone it makes sense it'd be her."

"Riley!" Kendall screamed through. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Ms Morgan..."

"Hello Kitty?" She yelled. "1 Direction?"

"The only place I could find stuff that looked like it would fit you is in the kids' section!" Riley protested. Tyler looked like he was struggling hard not to laugh at this mental image. "Do you have any idea how many strange looks I got shopping in the girls' section when I didn't have a kid with me to try the outfits on?"

Chase hung up the phone, coming back over.

"Moana's alright. She hasn't seen any monsters." Chase told them, the look of relief obvious in his face. "I told her to call immediately if she sees anything strange."

"Good, so that's covered." Tyler answered. "I think your family should be safe Riley, they're far enough away that I doubt he'd go out of his way to go out there."

"Alright, then as soon as Kendall is ready, we'll head to the lab." Chase stated. "Maybe she can do some tests or something, figure out exactly what's going on."

The door to Kendall's apartment opened, and she stepped out. The guys couldn't help having to stifle a few sniggers, seeing her standing before them in a pair of jeans, with a purple Power Rangers T-shirt, presumably the one she considered the least embarrassing to wear. She straightened out her glasses. She glared at all of the guys, seeing the sniggers. Before she could stop them, all three of them had pulled out their cell phones and taken a picture.

"HEY!" She protested. "If I hear one word, you're going to regret it!"

With that, she stormed down the hall, the guys close behind her.

Back at the museum, Shelby was still showing Christie around, getting her familiar with the exhibits. Although she would primarily work in the cafe, they were so short-staffed that everyone did pretty much everything. Koda and Chase had been going on digs and setting up exhibits in addition to their cafe duties long before the others showed up, and now the museum had even less staff than it had then. It was likely that Christie would have to perform the occasional tour.

"And finally, here we have the Ankylosaurus." Shelby told her, presenting the last fossil on her comprehensive tour. "It was a herbivore from the cretaceous period, around 66 Million years ago. It's most distinctive feature was its heavily armoured body, thick bony plates that made up almost half its bodyweight. Its tail was a massive bony club that could deliver blows of incredible force to ward off predators. In its day, it was the equivalent of a tank."

"Wow, you really do know a lot about all this stuff." Christie said with a smile. "I don't think I saw you look at the signs once, you really know all this stuff by heart?"

"I know what you're thinking." Shelby said, starting to shift a little awkwardly. She'd heard this all her life. "I know, I'm kind of a dork..."

"It's AWESOME!" Christie screamed excitedly. "Wow...you must be like...a dinosaur genius or something!"

"Well, Ms Morgan's the real expert, but I do my homework." Shelby answered. Just then, Koda arrived, looking like he was in a panic. He ran over to Shelby, grabbing her.

"Shelby, Kendall..." He stopped himself as he saw Christie. He knew that he couldn't tell Shelby exactly what was wrong in front of her.

"What is it Koda?" Shelby asked. "What about Ms Morgan?"

"Kendall...uh...sick." Koda answered, thinking quickly to explain her absence. "We need open museum."

Shelby just looked to Christie.

"Well, I guess your interview's been postponed." Shelby told her. "Would you help us out?"

"Sure thing, I'll do whatever." Christie answered cheerfully.

"Then I guess all we have to do is grab you a uniform." Shelby said, grabbing her by the arm. "Come on, Ms Morgan keeps them in her office."

The other Rangers arrived at the back of the museum, parking up in the loading area. As they got out, Chase held out his arms to catch Kendall as she started to climb across the back seat. She just glared at him.

"I'm not a kid Chase!" She snapped at him, jumping down from the jeep herself. Koda arrived, making his way over.

"Koda clear back like Chase ask." He told them, before finally noticing Kendall. The others had told him what had happened, but he could hardly believe his eyes seeing it. She only reached just beyond his midriff. "Kendall..."

"I know Koda, believe me I know." She muttered. "Can we just get inside now?"

She made her way over to the entrance to the lab, the T-rex statue...before noticing another problem. She could reach the mouth...barely. She just sighed and turned back to the others.

"Need a little hand do we?" Chase asked.

"Just get over here and help me will you?" Kendall groaned. Chase went across, picking Kendall up and placing her inside the statue's mouth, activating the control for the slide. They all entered the lab behind her, seeing Kendall heading over to her work bench.

"Alright, I'll need to take a blood sample and..."

"I doubt that will be necessary." Keeper said as he appeared in the room in a puff of smoke. He made his way over to Kendall. "I sense strong magic coming from you. Your affliction is not scientific in nature."

"You mean this is a spell?" Chase asked.

"That is correct, and it is a very powerful spell at that." Keeper answered.

"Can you reverse it?" Kendall asked. "I might not have been tall, but I haven't been this size since I was 10!"

Keeper placed a hand on her head, and closed his eyes, concentrating on her. Kendall felt his power flaring up, coursing through her, but before long he stopped. She looked disappointed as she realised that she was exactly the same height.

"Nothing happened." She said, looking a little worried.

"I am afraid this magic is beyond my power." Keeper told her apologetically. "I have slowed its progress, but I cannot reverse it."

"Wait, slowed its progress?" Kendall asked. "You mean I'm going to keep shrinking?"

"I am afraid so." Keeper told her, looking to the other Rangers. "The only way to reverse the effects will be to find the one that cast this evil spell and destroy them."

"I guess it can't be too hard to find a monster that goes around shrinking people." Chase remarked. "Keep track of the news feed. If people start shrinking all over the city, I'm sure that it'll hit the news pretty soon."

Just then, Kendall's cell phone rang. She answered it, looking a little curious.

"Hello, who is this?" She asked. "Ms Moran! Shoot, um...no I haven't forgotten our appointment, I'm just..."

She was trying to think of something when she saw Tyler miming coughing. She just sighed, before forcing out a cough.

"I'm actually not well today, I came down with something." She said, spluttering some more. "Yes...I know it's a long drive...that's why my assistant...uh...Tyler will take your appointment!"

Tyler just looked shocked hearing this. Kendall listened to the response.

"Yes, he's qualified to make decisions on my behalf." Kendall assured her. "Alright...you'll be here in half an hour? Perfect, he'll meet you in the Dino Bite cafe. Sorry I couldn't be there."

As she hung up, Tyler just looked to her.

"You want me to take your appointment?" Tyler asked her. "Do I look like a wedding planner? What do I know about booking weddings?"

"Have you ever been to a wedding?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah, of course." Tyler answered.

"Then you know as much as I do!" Kendall replied as she grabbed a folder off her desk, shoving it into his hands. "All the details for the space and the pricing is in that folder, just...talk to them and...try not to let them bring you down too much on the price. The offer I've come up with is fair, but if they haggle, you can go down by as much as fifteen percent but no lower than that!"

"Alright, I guess I'm stuck doing that then." Tyler answered. "Well I guess I've got half an hour to learn to be a wedding planner. Would you guys mind handling the museum?"

"Christie and Riley can deal with the restaurant. Shelby knows all that dinosaur stuff, so she can run the tours." Chase stated.

"So...what will you be doing exactly?" Tyler asked. Chase just smiled as he headed for the stairway.

"I'll supervise." He answered.

Up on Sledge's ship, Poisandra was playing a game of catch with Curio, the little pet that Sledge had Wrench make for her to keep her company. As he ran the whetting stone along his blade, he glared at her. She had released one of Sledge's most dangerous prisoners, an act that would have seen any of the others destroyed or put into the solitary cells. Such was Sledge's inexplicable fondness for her that he had immediately forgiven her. More than that, he actually complimented her on her 'ingenious' plan. Looking at her now, he could think of thousands of things he could say to describe her, none of them would even be in the same neighbourhood as 'ingenious'.

"You keep staring; do you want to join in?" Poisandra asked him. Fury just growled and shook his head. "You hear that Curio? Articulate isn't he?"

"He looks grumpy." Curio agreed. "Maybe he's just annoyed you came up with a plan and he didn't."

"Do you want to see if you can stitch yourself back together?" Fury warned him, gripping his sword tightly. Poisandra just gasped and hugged Curio protectively as he started shaking in fear.

"You will NOT harm my precious little friend!" She warned him. "If you pop so much as one stitch, I'll blast you so far into space; you won't even see another star system!"

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about the fact your monster appears to have accomplished nothing." Fury told her. "She's been on Earth for a full day, and there hasn't been one word of her chaos on the news."

"She...she probably just hasn't had a chance to do anything on a large scale yet." Poisandra answered. "I'm sure you remember the trouble she caused on Xybria!"

"Well right now it looks like she isn't accomplishing a whole lot!" He answered. "It surely won't be long until 'Sledgums' loses his patience."

"Hmm...though you may have a point...I wonder if there's anything we can do to speed things along." Poisandra said, completely ignoring Fury's comment. "Come along Curio; let's go for a little walk."

With that, she skipped out of the room, humming cheerfully. Fury just shook his head in disbelief, before going back to sharpening his sword.

Back at the museum, the Rangers were doing what they could to keep the place running. The heat wave had started to abate, meaning people had started to come back to the museum.

Chase made his way into the cafe to check on how Christie and Riley were coping, finding that they were working like a well-oiled machine. The customers were coming through at a brisk pace, and by the looks of things, everyone was delighted with the quality of the food.

"This coffee is just amazing." The customer at the counter said, looking to Christie who was still holding the pot.

"Would you like a top-up? The coffee's bottomless here." She responded. The customer just handed over her cup.

"Bottomless coffee, you just said my two favourite words!" She answered. Christie poured her coffee, before heading off to tend to another customer. Chase leant on the counter.

"So can I take it we have another satisfied customer?" Chase asked, checking her out, and liking what he saw. Riley saw this, and gestured Christie over, pointing in his direction. She watched on.

"What are we watching?" She asked.

"Chase in his natural habitat." He said with a wry grin. "It's better than the discovery channel."

The customer just smiled.

"Oh, the coffee's just great." She answered. "I almost want to stay for lunch and see what the food is like."

"Well if you do, I might be able to give you a little company." Chase said as he took the stool next to her. "I hate to see a pretty lady eating alone."

"And what makes you think I'm alone?" Gia asked.

"Because you're not with anyone now, and if I had a girl as pretty as you, I'd never leave her side." He answered. Riley just started to mime gagging, while Christie struggled not to laugh. "I'm Chase."

"And I'm waiting for someone." She answered. "Here she is now."

Just then, someone came in that Chase recognised. He had seen her here once before. A young woman with dyed red hair and a short, floral sundress made her way over, at which the other woman lit up.

"Cat, over here!" She said, waving. The other woman came over, wrapping her arms around her and kissed her passionately. Chase just smiled and backed off, stroking the bridge of his nose. He remembered when Cat had been at the museum, he'd tried to hit on her, and she'd informed him she had a fiancée.

"Hey, nice to see you again Cat." Chase said, at which Cat recognised him.

"Oh, hi again...its Chase right?" She responded, shaking his hand. "I met him when I was here the last time."

"Yeah, he introduced himself to me too." The other woman told her.

"Let me guess...the fiancée?" He asked.

"My name's Gia, Gia Moran." She said, shaking Chase's hand. "We're meant to meet with someone named Tyler..."

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Tyler interrupted as he arrived. He'd been spending some time familiarising himself with the folder to make sure he was prepared for any questions they had. "So, how about I give you a quick tour and then we can go into the office and talk figures?"

"That sounds like an idea." Gia said as she and Cat followed him. Chase just ran his hands through his hair as he turned to the kitchen.

"Alright, let me have it." He groaned.

"Way to go man." Riley teased him as Christie doubled over in laughter.

"You're so right, this is WAY better than the nature channel." Christie giggled.

"Yeah...I'm kind of feeling like the antelope right now." He answered. It wasn't as though he wasn't used to getting shot down. It was an occupational hazard of being a shameless flirt.

"Well if you're quite finished making an ass of yourself, we're running short on coffee beans." Riley told him, opening the till and handing Chase some money. "Since you're not doing anything useful here, can you run to the supermarket?"

"I'll be back in a jiff." He answered, grateful for the chance to leave. As soon as he left, Christie just completely lost it, laughing her ass off.

"Oh God, that was amazing...and he really thinks those lines work?" She asked. "I mean, he's pretty hot and everything but...REALLY?"

"You haven't heard him use his favourite line." Riley told her, before imitating his accent. "Let's cut to the Chase."

"He really uses that line?" Christie chuckled. "Oh I've got to hear that!"

"I'm sure you will." Riley assured her. "He's a nice guy, but he's not the most reliable. He kind of gets distracted when..."

"When he sees a pretty girl?" She asked.

"Don't worry; you'll get your turn I'm sure." Riley told her. "He actually almost burned down the restaurant because he was so busy hitting on a girl he forgot about the grill."

"You're kidding right?" Christie asked.

"Yeah, he's kind of a flake that way." Riley told her, heading to the grill. "I just wish he wouldn't spend all day hitting on every girl he sees. Then he might get some work done."

As he went into the back to start up another batch of burgers, Christie's necklace started to glow. She just smiled.

"Oh, I think that can be arranged." She answered.


	5. Dark Wishes

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to be doing, but Shelby glided around the museum with a huge smile on her face the whole day. She had always imagined herself travelling to all corners of the globe, searching for the next big discovery in palaeontology. Perhaps even discovering a new species...Shelbysaurus? Watkinsaur? She was still trying to imagine what she'd name it. However, this...this was the next best thing.

She hadn't set foot in the cafe since first thing that morning when she helped Christie set up. The rest of the day, she had led the tour groups. It felt good to exercise her knowledge, to utilise the years she had spent reading up on dinosaurs. She'd even been tested, challenged on a couple of occasions when members of her tours would throw questions at her. To her credit, it might have taken her a moment to think about it, but so far she had yet to be bested by one of these questions.

"And so we finish our tour by coming around to this charming looking fellow, a member of the therapsid genus." Shelby informed them.

"It looks like a rat." Someone commented. Shelby just smiled.

"Well, it does a little doesn't it?" Shelby asked. "The Therapsid existed from the late Triassic period through the Cretaceous era, co-existing with dinosaurs. They are often referred to as mammal-like reptiles. We can see in it a lot of the genetic markers that would later evolve into the mammals of today, leading many to see these at the very first evolutionary stages of mammals on Earth. While it would take the asteroid shower to clear the way for their evolution, these fossils suggest that mammals do go back a lot farther than many believe. Perhaps one day, we may even find our understanding of the origin of our species changing in the same way as now, many take it for granted that many species of bird were already evolving from dinosaurs while not even 20 years ago most still assumed they were reptiles."

She looked to her tour group, gesturing to the side.

"That concludes our tour for the day, if you'd like to go back and see some of our exhibits in more detail, you are more than welcome. Our staff will be only too happy to answer any questions you may have." She said as she concluded the guided portion of the tour. "If you're hungry, the Dino Bite cafe has a range of food for reasonable prices, while our gift shop is just over there if you'd like to peruse our range of souvenirs. If you'd like to sign up to a membership or make a donation, feel free to speak to any of our staff, any assistance is gratefully received. My name's Shelby, thank you for listening."

The crowd applauded her, giving her a warm feeling. Teaching wasn't really her preferred path, but she had to admit it felt good to be using her knowledge in this way. She understood that digs were expensive, and that like other branches of science, without corporate donations the most common route to secure funding was by working for universities or colleges. She didn't imagine being a lecturer would be so bad if it meant occasionally getting to join an expedition. One of her idols, Dr Oliver apparently worked in a High School these days, but he was still featured prominently in scientific journals and was known to go on a few expeditions as an invited guest between terms.

As she left the area, heading through to find her next tour group, Tyler arrived from the other end, narrowly missing her. Gia and Cat were following him, taking in his tour.

"So uh...yeah, that one's pretty big too." Tyler said, making no secret of the fact his knowledge of dinosaurs was pretty limited. He knew some of the more familiar ones, especially the ones that their powers were based on. His father had been the real expert; Tyler's search was more focused on his father's whereabouts than his work. "If I could make a recommendation, if you want a dragon-like dinosaur, you'd have to go pretty far to beat the T-Rex. The fossil we have is almost completely intact, with the exception of a couple of time-of-death fractures."

"I don't know...it seems a little obvious." Gia mused, thinking about it.

"I guess it does look a little like a dragon." Cat answered. "I mean...put a set of wings on it; it kind of looks a little like Fireheart."

"Fireheart?" Tyler asked. Gia gave her a little glare. Tyler thought about it for a moment. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He just shook himself back from his thoughts.

"Alright, so catering, would you like us to set up dinner tables, or would you prefer a dinner buffet?" He asked. "With a buffet, you could really maximise the floor space. How many guests are you inviting?"

"It's...not huge, only about twenty or so guests. We've still got a few RSVP's to hear from." Gia told him. "I'm not really into huge public events. I've kind of had my fill of them if I'm honest."

"An intimate occasion...I think I like the sound of that." Tyler answered. "Anyway, come to the office. We can talk about figures and floor plans there. I believe Ms Morgan has a coffee maker in there..."

"You said the magic words." Gia answered. "Lead the way Tyler."

Meanwhile, in the cafe, Christie came into the grill area, finding Riley stroking his stomach as he looked to a meal sitting before him. The Rangers were usually encouraged to see to themselves for their dinner breaks, as long as they didn't take liberties, Kendall figured it was more efficient that they just make themselves something to eat when they got a chance than sending people for breaks.

He had made himself up a meal, a much larger one than he would normally eat. It was a full-on Bronto Burger with all the trimmings. Onion rings, pickles, cheese, bacon...and a side of fries that looked more like it was four portions! However, he just stared at it, looking at it with a pained expression. Christie saw him eyeing it up and smiled.

"So I guess the diet begins tomorrow." She teased him.

"Maybe it starts today." Riley answered as his stomach growled. "I don't understand it. I haven't eaten a thing since last night. I'm absolutely famished."

"Then your plan is to just will it into your stomach?" Christie asked him. "I don't think it works that way."

"I feel it, I'm absolutely starving, but when I look at food...I just...I just can't bring myself to eat it." He told her.

"Maybe you're just coming down with something." She suggested. "Or maybe your eyes were just bigger than your belly."

"Maybe." He grumbled, shoving the tray over to her. "Here, you can have it."

"Thanks, but the idea of eating half my bodyweight in food doesn't really appeal to me." She answered, taking a couple of onion rings, popping them into her mouth. "Anyway, I'll take the trash out. Try not to clear out the larder while I'm gone."

"At this rate I'm not sure I can even look at the larder." Riley said as she took the garbage bag and left. He looked up as he saw a customer arriving at the counter and made his way around. "Hello, Dino Bite Cafe, how can I help you?"

As Christie made her way out back, opening the dumpster, she suddenly became aware of the fact she wasn't alone.

"You know, it's not safe for little girls to wander around alleys all by themselves." She heard someone say. She just smiled.

"Oh, I think I'll be alright." She answered as she turned around, seeing Poisandra and Curio standing before her. "Of course, you should know that I'm not exactly harmless."

"Well, I did believe that. I really enjoyed your work on Xybria." She told her. "But since you got here, all you've been doing is flipping burgers and pouring coffee! Where's the mayhem? Where's the carnage? The body count? The screams? The glorious destruction you wrought elsewhere!"

"Hey, these things take time!" Christie told her. "My spells are already in play on four of them..."

"FOUR?" Poisandra shrieked. "That's it? Two days and you only manage to afflict FOUR of them?"

"Like I said, these things take time!" Christie protested. "It was a lot easier on other planets, do you realise how hard it is to get people to make wishes here? It's like no one says their wishes out loud anymore!"

"I know you need someone to make a wish; do you think I'm stupid?" Poisandra asked her.

"I need to HEAR someone make a wish!" She yelled back. "Why do you think your fiancé kept me in that isolation helmet? If I can't hear someone make a wish, I can't use my magic!"

"You need to hear the wish." She said, thinking for a moment. "Of course...that doesn't mean to say anyone has to say it out loud."

"Uh...excuse me?" Christie asked, just looking confused. Poisandra pulled a device out of her pocket. It looked like a kind of headband, with circuitry around the inside of it. She placed it on Christie's head, but the girl just looked confused.

"Uh...thanks?" She replied. "So what does this...?"

Just then, something occurred to her, she could hear a voice down the street. She looked around, thinking that someone had interrupted them, but could not see anyone looking at them. She could only see a guy at the end of the street, much further away than she should be able to hear him. He was standing a little bit away from a car, watching a traffic warden.

"He's about to ticket my car, that's just bloody great!" She heard him. Only...she didn't hear him really. His voice was in her head. "I wish I could avoid this ticket!"

Christie's necklace started to glow. Before their eyes, they watched as the street started to crack, before a sink hole opened up, dumping the man's car straight into the sewer. He started to scream as he ran to the hole and flailed wildly, seeing his ruined car. Christie just smiled.

"Well, he won't have to pay that ticket." She said with a smile, taking off the headband and putting it away. "I'm going to have fun with this."

"Go to the mall once you're done with your shift." Poisandra suggested. "I'm sure you'll find plenty of victims there."

Chase came back into the lab, deciding to swing past and check on Kendall on his way back from the supermarket. He saw her standing on a stool, the only way she could reach up to her work bench.

"Any luck with those scans?" He asked.

"Not really, it's like whatever did this is keeping a really low profile." She grumbled, hitching up her jeans, and tightening her belt. While Keeper had managed to slow the progress of the spell, he hadn't managed to stop it. She was still getting smaller. "The energy signatures are really faint...and they mostly centre around here, but since I'm probably giving off energy as a result of this spell, that could just be me."

"Well you know we're all ready to do whatever we need to." Chase assured her. "Sledge's monsters aren't known for subtlety. I'm sure they'll show themselves soon enough."

"Kendall hungry?" Koda asked as he came into the room, carrying a tray of food. Knowing that there really wasn't a lot they could do to help until the monster showed itself. Koda laid the tray down beside her. Kendall looked to the bowl then back to Koda.

"Alphabet soup?" She asked. "Really Koda? I might be the size of an eight year old, but I am an adult."

"It was only soup in cupboard." Koda assured her.

"I can vouch for that, the minestrone was really popular today." Chase told him, looking to Koda. "We ran out a little while ago."

Kendall didn't say anything. While Chase had not been shy about teasing her about her situation, she doubted Koda would be quick to make jokes about it. She just picked up a spoon, taking some, before getting back to her work.

"It's good." She admitted begrudgingly. "Thanks Koda."

"Yeah, nice choice there Koda." Chase said, grabbing his shoulder. "Whoa...dude, have you been working out?"

"Koda always work out." Koda answered, looking a little confused.

"Dude, nice work." Chase told him. He then went back to Kendall. "So, any word from Tyler about this wedding?"

"He's still discussing things with the client." Kendall answered. "I just hope he doesn't go overboard and negotiate away all our profit margins. You know what he's like."

"I could always have..."

"You're even worse!" Kendall told him. "You'd do anything for a pretty face. Do you remember that time the kindergarten teacher asked you for a free tour? She ended up bringing in her entire school! You cost us 47 complimentary tours!"

"I didn't know she was a kindergarten teacher...I definitely didn't know she'd brought the whole class!" He protested, looking back to Koda. "You believe me right mate?"

Koda just looked at him sceptically. Chase just shook his head in defeat.

"Well I can see I'm never going to win here." He stated, heading for the exit. He stopped and looked back to Koda.

"Say...is that a new shirt?" He asked. Koda just looked a little bemused.

"No." He responded.

"Well...it looks good anyway." Chase answered, before heading off to go back to work.

Back up in the museum, Shelby was just finishing up with the last of her tour groups. The whole day had been a huge success. The cafe and the gift shop had done brisk business, and by the time all was said and done, they would have not only managed without Kendall, but they would have an impressive day of business behind them.

Shelby in particular had a fantastic day. Taking over the tours was not only a great change for her, allowing her to exercise her passion, but it had also had another benefit. Shelby had overheard more than a few comments about how much people enjoyed her tours, she had seen quite a few people filling out comment cards and putting them into the feedback box. She hadn't had a chance to get the key to check it out yet, but she was confident that Ms Morgan would have a lot of positive reading to do by the time they figured out what was wrong.

As she headed into the cafe, Riley, Koda and Christie were just finishing up cleaning the restaurant. Shelby came to the counter, leaning on it.

"Well someone looks like they had a good day." Riley commented.

"You have no idea. I had a blast taking those tours." Shelby told him with a rush of excitement.

"Well, at least someone's having a good day." Riley grumbled.

"Oh...what's the problem?" Shelby asked him.

"I think I'm coming down with something. I haven't been able to eat all day." Riley told her. "Look do you mind if I just go home and lie down?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Shelby answered. "Christie..."

"Yeah...actually I kind of have a few errands to run." Christie said, sucking her teeth. "Would you mind if I duck out?"

"Well, I guess you've done so much for us already, there shouldn't be a problem." Shelby told her. "I guess this place is pretty much cleared down, it shouldn't take the rest of us long to finish up."

"Great, thanks!" Christie told her. "I'll make it up to you..."

"Hey, you've already done more than enough for us." Shelby told her. "See you tomorrow."

With that, Christie gathered up her things and left with Riley, leaving Shelby with Koda.

"So, how did Tyler end up doing with the wedding planning?" Shelby asked. Koda shook his head.

"Not well." He told her. "He negotiate to...twenty five percent discount."

"Oh, wow." Shelby replied. "Ms Morgan is not going to like that."

Chase came in, smiling as he saw them.

"Well, here is to the end of another successful day." He declared. "Another few days like these, and I might decide to skip the whole Ranger thing and just run this place."

"Of course you had a good day, you barely did anything." Shelby chuckled. "We did all the real work."

"Hey, someone had to co-ordinate things." He told her. "Anyway, come on Koda, there's a little more work to do in the back before we're done here."

They both left, leaving Shelby alone in the restaurant. She couldn't help beaming brightly, thinking about the day she'd had. She was truly in her element, something she was sure would be clear to Kendall when she got the comments back from the tour groups. She didn't doubt she'd still have to do shifts in the cafe, there were way too few of them to avoid that, but given how well things were working out with Christie...maybe it wouldn't be too long before they hired a couple of others and freed her up to start doing more of the work she really wanted to do.

Just then, Tyler came into the restaurant, his head in his hands. Gia and Cat had done a masterful job of negotiating a good deal out of him, and he was not looking forward to telling Kendall about it.

"Hey there." Shelby greeted him. Tyler just looked up at her, and seemed to tense up. Shelby was completely confused. Sure, he'd had a bad day, but why was he looking at her like that? He let out a massive yell and ran at her, launching into an attack. Shelby barely managed to get out of the way, tumbling to the floor. She started to scramble away.

"Tyler..."

She didn't get a chance to question him though; he just continued to attack, not giving her an inch. She barely got to her feet before Tyler kicked her hard, sending her flying over the counter into the kitchen.

Shelby looked up to Tyler in a panic, seeing that he was still coming for her. She couldn't bring herself to fight back. She got up, and managed to barge open the back door, running out of the restaurant. Tyler got into the street, but she was already well on her way by the time he got there.

"That's right, you better run!" He called after her. Chase and Koda got out to the back finding Tyler there.

"Dude, what happened?" Chase asked.

"It looks like you fight." Koda asked. "Who you fight?"

"Me." Tyler answered, raising surprised looks from Koda and Chase. "Well, a clone anyway. Sledge must have thought sending in a clone would get you guys to lead him to the lab. Unfortunately I was the first to see him."

"So...there's a clone of you running around?" Chase asked.

"It appears that way." Tyler answered. "Still, now we know about this, we can keep an eye out."


	6. Careless Wishes

A/N:I have had it pointed out I posted the wrong chapter here. Sorry about that...honest mistake. Here's the real chapter. Thanks for alerting me to this.

Christie walked through the streets of Amber Beach, heading for as large a crowd as she could. Her power, the power to grant wishes, required people to work. If no one was making any wishes, she couldn't use the power she had at her disposal.

Of course, just granting wishes was boring. It was no fun to just give people what they wanted. After all, people were selfish, spoiled, undeserving. They thought only to make their own position better, regardless of what it meant for others. In the end, it was much more satisfying to show people exactly how miserable their selfish desires could make people.

She had laid waste to more than one world with her power. Such was the strength of some people's self-centred mindset that they would never think what their own fleeting happiness would mean in a wider sense to those around them that she had caused full-scale wars with the backlash of her wishes. And...she liked it. Nothing was more satisfying to her than watching as someone who made what they thought was a perfectly innocent wish would watch as their whole world crumbled around them.

She was almost at the mall when she found a group of kids standing around, teasing and taunting a young boy. He was about a foot shorter, and by the looks of things at least a year younger than the rest of them. She pulled out the headband, smiling darkly as she did so. She slipped the simple silver band over her brow and looked over to them, just as the young boy being bullied was pushed to the ground, and started crying as the others teased him, laughing at his pain.

'Dan's such a jerk, just because he's big and strong and stuff.' She heard the kid thinking. 'I wish someone would show him he's not as strong as he thought, then everyone would be sorry!'

Her necklace started to glow as she heard this wish in her mind. The ringleader of the gang reached down, grabbing the kid on the ground.

"Get up squirt; we're not finished with you yet." He stated as the kids continued to laugh. The kid on the ground struggled, which only seemed to anger him. Then...he saw something...a loose rock on the edge of the path. Without thinking, he snatched it up just as the older kid finally pulled him off the ground, and he swung it as hard as he could right into the side of his head. The big kid fell down and stopped moving!

"Dan?" One of the others asked. They all approached him slowly, looking ill. The one he had been bullying looked ill, standing with a blood-stained rock in his hand. Eventually one of them got up.

"Shit, he's not breathing!" He screamed. "He's dead!"

With a chorus of screams, all of them ran off in a panic, leaving only the one that was being bullied standing over him. He looked down on the body, looking more than a little sick, before dropping the rock and running away too. Christie just laughed.

"Got to love kids." She chuckled. "They never think things through."

Back at the lab, Tyler was sitting on a chair; while Kendall checked his...well...injuries would be glorifying it. He had a couple of scrapes on his knuckles that would likely be gone in an hour, but that was it. They had all gotten there after the battle, so none of them really knew what he had seen. She just looked to him.

"So you're saying...?"

"How many times do I have to say it, I saw a clone!" Tyler interrupted her. "It looked exactly like me...it was even wearing the same outfit! I guess they must have based its image on me today."

"Well...how do we know that you're really you and not the clone then?" Riley asked, looking to him suspiciously. "I mean, creating suspicion of a clone...it could be a clever gambit to gain our trust."

"You saw the kitchen right?" Tyler asked. "You think I did that myself?"

"I'm just saying..."

"Well, you can understand we might want a bit of reassurance if there's the potential of mistaken identity." Chase told him. He looked thoughtfully at Tyler for a moment. "Take off your shirt."

"Excuse me?" Tyler asked.

"If whatever cloned you only saw you dressed, it wouldn't know what you look like under the shirt." Chase told him, cradling his chin with his hand. "So, take off your shirt."

Tyler just rolled his eyes and pulled off his shirt.

"OK, that looks like he did this morning doing his workout." Riley answered. "Of course, if it was based on his DNA and not an image, it might be able to replicate his physique."

"True, we have to see more proof." Chase stated. "Take off..."

"For God's SAKE, it's me!" Tyler answered. "Riley, you called Chase on his bullshit when he claimed he had ridden kangaroos because there aren't any kangaroos in New Zealand."

They both looked at each other, a little confused.

"How would I know that if I wasn't here to hear that conversation?" He asked them.

"Fine, I'm convinced." Riley said as he turned back to Kendall. Chase looked a little disappointed, but he accepted the explanation. Kendall hitched up her pants again, tightening her belt another notch.

"Right, so it's clear that Sledge is up to something, and since he's sending two monsters at once, it's obviously big." She stated. She rolled her eyes. "Stop sniggering Chase, it isn't funny!"

"No, of course not." He answered. "So now we have to look out for..."

Just then, the alarm went off. The Rangers all rushed to a viewing screen, checking the location of the alert.

"It's the mall." Kendall told them. "There was a flare up of energy there; it must be one of the monsters!"

"We'll get out there." Riley answered as his stomach started growling again.

"Come on, the sooner we get out there, the sooner we can get Thumbelina back to normal." Chase answered.

"I heard that!" Kendall answered bad-temperedly as they left.

Shelby stumbled into the woods, breathless and weary after her flight. She had no idea what had caused Tyler to attack her like that. It had come completely without warning, and he had attacked more viciously than she knew he was capable of.

Well, that wasn't true. She knew Tyler had that in him. He was fiercely defensive of things, of people that mattered to him. In the few Ranger battles they had been in together, she had seen him unleash the full fury of a red hurricane. He was more than capable of completely destroying an opponent if they threatened him or anything he cared about. She had seen him do it more than once.

That still didn't answer the question, why had he turned on her? What had she done to deserve it? Why did he think she was a threat?

There was another side to the whole issue though, and that was her response to the whole situation. Shelby had always prided herself on standing up, on always taking care of herself. She never allowed anyone to take advantage of her, or to insult her. She definitely never allowed anyone to attack her physically, she'd put one of the girls in her year in hospital one time because she tried to make a victim of her. When push came to shove though, she hadn't fought back. She hadn't so much as lifted a hand to try and fight back.

She already knew how she felt about Tyler. She had been smitten from the first moment she had seen him. She had seen that moment in her dreams a few times since then. As she looked up at him, the edges of her vision were a little misty...probably the result of the fact she'd just survived an explosion, but it looked and felt so much like a lot of those clichéd romance films she'd seen. All she saw was a handsome face, and a hand reaching out for her, offering to help her.

She could remember his bright smile, his warm voice, and the confidence in his demeanour...even when it became abundantly clear he had no idea what the hell he was doing when he intervened between her and Ice Age. She didn't see a bumbling guy who had pulled out a pair of boxer shorts to defend himself against a monster; he was a superhero, even before they morphed for the first time.

She didn't mind admitting she had fallen hard for him. It wasn't just his body, which she could admit she spent more than a little time admiring in the t-shirt he wore on shift that was clearly too small...no doubt a deliberate ploy by Kendall to attract female customers, it wasn't just his infectious smile or his boundless enthusiasm...it was just...his spirit. She couldn't remember a time when someone in her life made her feel as strong. Throughout most of her life, she'd always heard people hitting her with reality, the fact she didn't have money for college, the fact hardly any regularly published scientists were women, the fact most considered palaeontology a field in which most of the major discoveries had already been made...he was one of the few that just seemed to make her believe that it was possible for people to attain their dreams. He had been searching for his father for almost a whole year, and no matter how many people told him it was pointless, he kept going, and he had even gotten a lot further than most people thought he would. He made her believe her dreams weren't pointless.

She ached all over from the attack, but she knew that would pass soon enough. What hurt was that he could do that to her, that he would attack so viciously, and that she would not be able to fight back.

As her communicator bleeped, she couldn't bring herself to answer it. She just turned it off and sat by a tree, burying her face in her hands.

The others got to the mall, finding the place in bedlam. It wasn't as if Amber Beach Mall was a quiet place, but when they got there, the place was erupting in a full-scale riot! Flames licked out of windows, and people were brawling in the streets. They watched as a kid, some scrawny, pimple-faced teenager was thrown against a car in handcuffs by a cop.

"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything wrong!" He protested. "I was just sitting in my car..."

"The problem is it wasn't your car was it?" One of the cops yelled at him as they bundled him into a cruiser. "An 18 year old that works wrapping tortillas and you expected anyone to believe that Ferrari was yours? You really are a brain donor kid!"

The cruiser pulled off, leaving them all astounded.

"Uh...alright, what's going on here?" Chase asked. "This doesn't look much like a monster attack."

He was right about that; there wasn't so much as a vivik in sight. The place was in chaos, but it seemed like it was all human in origin. People were pummelling each other with wanton abandon as the emergency services tried to regain order.

"These energy signatures don't lie though, there is a monster here." Riley answered. "Or...well...was."

"So what the hell is going on here?" Tyler asked.

"I think I have an idea." Riley said as he pointed towards a news van. The local TV news station was doing a live broadcast. They all made their way closer to hear what was being said.

"...Outright chaos in the centre of Amber Beach." The female reporter was saying as they arrived. "The spark of the riot appears to be when a computer glitch in the central system resulted in the local 10,000 dollar sweepstake resulted in the distribution of an unprecedented 500 winning tickets being produced! The result being that each of the winning ticket holders was only awarded 20 dollars!"

As she continued, they all huddled.

"What is sweepstake?" He asked.

"Everyone puts in a small amount of money, then they draw numbers." Chase explained. "Whoever has the winning number gets all the money."

"Not get money." Koda grumbled. It was true, in his time all trade was done as a barter system. If someone was good at hunting, they would trade meat and pelts with the guy that was good at finding fruit and vegetables or the guy that found decent firewood. The whole concept of money made no sense to him. Sure, the paper stuff could make decent kindling, but it wasn't like he could eat money or wear money...why did it mean so much to people?

"Guys...do you know how unlikely it is that there would be 500 winning tickets?" Riley asked. "I'll give you a hint; it's about as likely as the chances of the International Space Station making a pit-stop in the mall."

"You think...?"

"Tyler, it's so unlikely...something screwy has to be going on." Riley told him.

"Great, so now we have a clone, a monster that shrinks random people AND a monster that affects the result of random lotteries to worry about?" Chase asked. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's not funny anymore, go away!" They heard someone yelling. They all turned to see a woman being followed by a huge crowd of people who were just staring at her. "For God's sake, just GET LOST!"

"Come on, you heard her, get out of here!" Tyler announced as he went to the woman. She just sighed.

"Thanks for that, this has been a seriously creepy day." She stated.

"Tell me about it." He answered. "What was that about?"

"Those are the other workers in my office." She grumbled. "They can't make up their bloody mind. One minute they don't know I exist, the next every one of them is staring at me and following me everywhere I go!"

"That's pretty strange." Chase stated.

"Tell me about it right?" She complained. "I mean, I might have wanted them to pay me more attention but this is ridiculous!"

As she left, the Rangers just looked to each other.

"OK, this is definitely screwy. There has to be something going on." Riley stated.

"Skin crawl...this...very strange." Koda agreed. By now, Christie had heard enough. She smiled as she changed into her true form, before stepping into view. "Wish monster would just come...come and fight."

"Rangers, Rangers, oh how clever you all are, to realise that there is something strange happening, however can I stand against such formidable intellect?" She asked as she came into view. She was a tall, slender creature, with a shapely musculature, clad in a kind of red leather armour, fitted with silver plates. Her long, blonde hair was tied into a tight plait which extended from the back of her head down to her waist, while her face...it was a simple, faceless mask, smooth, unmarked, with the dark, black pits of eye holes being the only feature. "However will I stand against such a force?"

"I'm guessing you're one of Sledge's new creatures." Tyler answered as they pulled out their morphers. "So which one are you? The shrinker? The clone maker?..."

"I guess you're not so smart after all. How disappointing." She chuckled as a bunch of viviks appeared. "Just remember to be careful what you wish for. You just might get it!"


	7. A Wish and a Prayer

The battle at the mall was getting dangerous, and the Rangers had to quickly turn their attention to the task of helping people escape. The big problem with a battle in an enclosed area like this was that it meant citizens, who were normally pretty good at getting the hell out of dodge when trouble broke out could get cornered. They could get trapped, turned around and cut off from the nearby exits.

"You're good at frightening little kids." Chase remarked as he somersaulted between a couple of viviks, landing near some kids that had managed to get separated from their parents, blasting them down with ease. "Try picking on someone your own size."

"Man, this is tiring." Riley stated as he cut down another couple with his Dino Sabre. He had now not eaten anything in well over a day. "I could really use a break."

"Well the sooner we finish these guys off the sooner we can figure out what's going on." Tyler announced as he fought with Christie. She produced a pair of long, curved daggers as she struggled to fight Tyler. She managed to disarm him of his Dino Sabre, sending it skidding across the ground. Tyler managed to shove her away, getting enough room to bring out his Dino Blaster, slamming a Dino Charger into it. Summoning up his Dino Steel Mode, he brought his Dino Smasher into her, sending her sliding several feet across the floor.

"You...you would hit a woman?" She asked. Tyler just sniggered.

"In case you hadn't noticed, you kind of started all this." He answered. "Don't start a fight you can't finish."

"New Monster bit off more than could chew." Koda said as he ran into her, smashing her with his Stego Shield. Christie floundered on the ground for a moment. "Almost too easy."

"Really?" She asked, getting a thought. "You want more of a challenge? How about getting the chance to face Fury again?"

"Koda wish he was here." He replied as the four Rangers assembled around him, taking up their Dino Steel Weapons. Without Shelby, they couldn't form the Dino Spike, but right now, the odds were in their favour. Christie smiled behind her mask.

Up on Sledge's ship, Fury was sitting, listening to Poisandra ramble on ceaselessly about her wedding. The current subject was the issue of the table dressings and the favours. He just breathed a weary sigh as he looked to her.

"You know, Sledge isn't going to change his mind about having the wedding until after we get the Dino Gems." He stated. "Perhaps your time would be more productively spent worrying about how that useless monster of yours..."

Poisandra looked more than a little startled as he suddenly started to glow and disappeared. She just smiled.

"Well, at least he won't interrupt me anymore." She said with a shrug. "So, what do you think of the Bella Donna arrangement for the bouquet, Curio?"

Fury looked as stunned as the Rangers as he appeared in a blinding flash of light, right in the middle of the battle. Tyler and the others all started to back up.

"Uh...OK I thought Sledge used drop ships." Riley said a little nervously. "When did he start using teleportation?"

"Back, Rangers!" Fury warned them as he brought up his sword, trying to regain his bearings. Being brought into this battle unexpectedly, he hadn't had time to prepare for the fight ahead; the only saving grace was that the Rangers didn't appear to have had a chance to prepare either.

"Well, seeing as you're all getting reacquainted...I think I'll just...give all you boys a little privacy."

With that, she ran, leaving Fury and the few remaining viviks to face the Rangers. Chase levelled his Para Chopper in Fury's direction.

"Last time we faced him we didn't have these." Chase reminded them. "Let's make it count."

Shelby was slowly, hesitantly making her way back into the Dino Lab. She still had no idea what made Tyler attack her so viciously, all she knew was that it had to be something to do with everything else that was going on. So many weird things had happened in the last few days that she was certain Sledge had to be up to something. It was a surprise to see him resort to magic; he didn't seem like the kind of guy that believed much in subtlety in his battle plans. This definitely seemed like a very different train of thought for him.

As she got into the lab, she looked around for Kendall. She didn't know why she was looking for her; it wasn't as though they had the warmest of relationships. However right now, she just knew she needed to talk to someone.

"Ms Morgan?" She asked. "Ms Morgan, are you here?"

"Over here." Kendall called. Shelby looked to the workbench, seeing Kendall as she wandered into view. She was now about the size of a large doll. She had managed to climb onto the workbench, seemingly the only way she could reach anything that was on it. She was wearing...well...

"Ms Morgan?" Shelby asked, seeing the hideous dress she was wearing. It looked like something that wouldn't look out of place in a cutest baby pageant. Kendall sighed.

"I took it from a doll in lost and found." She told her. "It's not exactly ideal, but it's the only thing to hand that will fit me."

"Where are the others?" Shelby asked her.

"A monster attacked the city." Kendall told her. "We tried to reach you, but your communicator..."

"I turned it off." Shelby admitted. "I couldn't face the others, not after what happened earlier."

"What happened?" Kendall asked her.

"Tyler and I...we had a fight." Shelby told her.

"You had a fight." Kendall said in exasperation. "And you think that was a reason to abandon the team?"

"No, you don't get it. It wasn't just an argument. It was an actual fight." Shelby told her. "Like...a full on brawl."

"Wait, you and Tyler had an actual fight?" Kendall asked, sounding more than a little astounded to hear this.

"Well, fight's kind of glorifying it. The truth is, Tyler just kicked my butt." Shelby muttered. "He just kind of attacked me. I don't know why, but...I couldn't bring myself to fight back."

"You didn't fight back?" Kendall asked her. "Why not?"

Shelby just looked at Kendall, who stared back for a little while. After a moment, the penny finally seemed to drop.

"Uh...OK...I guess I probably should have seen that coming." She admitted. "I suppose the signs were all there."

"I don't know what happened, he just went completely postal! It wasn't as if he was just trying to hurt me either. I barely got away, when I ran out the kitchen, he was going for his morpher."

"Wait, Tyler attacked you in the kitchen?" Kendall asked. "When was this?"

"Maybe about an hour, hour and a half ago?" She responded. Kendall turned to the computer accessing some security footage.

"That's not what Tyler said, he told a different story." Kendall told Shelby. "He said that he found a clone in the kitchen."

"A clone?" Shelby asked. "A clone of me? He thought I was a clone?"

"Actually he said it was a clone of him, that's what tipped him off." Kendall answered. She pulled up the security footage, and watched as it showed quite clearly Tyler attacking Shelby. Kendall could immediately understand why Shelby was so shaken. It was clear he didn't hold back at all when he was attacking her, but then if he genuinely believed she wasn't human, then she could understand why he would give it everything.

"See, it's quite clearly me there." Shelby told her. "You can see that..."

"Well, here's the thing, I can see that, but that doesn't mean to say Tyler did." Kendall suggested. Shelby just looked confused.

"OK, you've lost me." Shelby admitted.

"Well, by the end of the day I'm probably going to be the size of a wedding princess Barbie if I keep shrinking at this rate. It's clear that there's magic at play here." Kendall explained to her. "What if whatever's doing this only made Tyler THINK you're a clone of him."

"Because...that's...um..."

"Maybe it's a divide and conquer tactic." Kendall suggested.

"I guess whoever did this got the divide part right." Shelby answered. "I just hope you're wrong about the conquer part. I need to get to the others to help."

"Shelby, if you go there, there's no way I can guarantee that Tyler won't still see you as a clone." Kendall warned her.

"But you still saw me as me. Maybe the spell only affects Tyler." She suggested. "Maybe they can convince Tyler it's really me."

"Shelby, you need to ...SHELBY!" Kendall called out as Shelby ran out of the Command Centre. "Just...try to be careful."

Back at the mall, the other Rangers were quickly finding themselves in a brutal battle against Fury. The fact that neither side had expected this battle had led to everyone going into it with little to no pre-formed strategy. It was quickly becoming apparent from the chaos that it was doing neither side any good.

Fury started to drive Koda back, forcing him to take refuge beneath his Stego Shield as he rained in blows.

"Koda, when I say, get your head down!" Chase called out, aiming his Para Chopper at his back. "NOW!"

Koda ducked down quickly, clearing the shot and allowing Chase to open fire. Fury started to block the blasts, staggering a little as some of them tagged him through his guard. It opened him up to Tyler and Riley, hitting him at the same time with their own weapons. He clutched a wound on his chest as he blasted them back.

"That maniac! She could have gotten me killed!" He roared. "When I get my hands on her, I'll make her wish she was back in solitary!"

"That other monster did this?" Chase asked. "She brought him here?"

"How did she do that?" Riley asked. "Tell us Fury!"

"If you think I'm telling you anything, you obviously don't know me very well!" He growled, getting back to his feet and hefting his sword, with a bit of a struggle. "Once I'm done with you, I'll make her pay, don't worry about that!"

Before he could do anything though, he was taken down from behind by Shelby with her Tricera Drill. She stood before the others, staring at them.

"Great, that's all we need!" Tyler grumbled. "My clone is back!"

"Your...your clone?" Riley asked. "Uh...Tyler, that's Shelby."

"No, it's my clone!" He insisted, staring straight at her, getting ready to attack. "Can't you see, it looks exactly like me! It even has the same weapons and..."

"Tyler, that's Shelby!" Chase told him, holding him back. Koda got in front of him.

"Tyler confused. That Shelby." Koda confirmed. Tyler just looked to Koda, feeling the sincerity of his words. While Koda could lie, he didn't make a habit of it. He really hadn't gotten into the habit of lying in his day to day life. Although he'd had it explained to him that sometimes people would lie to protect others, to spare their feelings when telling the truth would only cause pain, but he hadn't really gotten the hang of it. One of the things a lot of the Rangers liked about Koda was that deception was largely alien to him. Generally if he said something, no matter how unlikely it sounded, they could be sure he was telling the truth.

"I must be under a spell, that other monster must have done this to me." Tyler stated, suddenly feeling ill to his stomach. "Shelby, I'm..."

"We can worry about that later." She told him. "First, let's send Fury packing!"

They quickly assembled the Dino Spike, just as Fury started to recover. Shelby grabbed it, hefting it up over her head.

"You know what to do!" Tyler told her as they formed up, creating the launch platform. Shelby leapt up, springing from their clasped hands, flying high into the air, before throwing it with an impassioned cry. Fury tried to parry the blow, but it smashed straight through the sword, ploughing into him. He screamed out in agony, but regained his feet, looking to the Rangers.

"We'll settle this another day Rangers!" He yelled as he ran off. The Rangers pursued for a little while, but Fury moved surprisingly quickly, even when he was injured. They quickly lost track of him.

Later, back at the Dino Lab, the Rangers debriefed with Kendall after another very strange day. The team couldn't help staring at Kendall as she tried to take them through the briefing.

"Alright, can we all just try and be mature about this?" Kendall asked them. "Yes, I'm wearing doll's clothing. Can we all just move past this please?"

"Sorry, it's just...this is totally not what we expect to see." Tyler told her. "Then again, I guess I wasn't expecting to see Shelby as my clone either."

"Yeah, what's with that anyway?" Riley asked. "I thought the monster only shrunk people."

"Kendall's the only one that's been shrinking." Chase reminded Riley, slipping his arm around him. Riley just looked at him, starting to move away.

"Yeah...that's another thing...you've been pretty weird around us recently." Riley told him. Chase just looked a little confused.

"In what way have I been weird?" He asked. None of the others really wanted to describe it, but they had all noticed that he was being a little weird around the other guys.

"Shelby, about earlier, I'm really sorry." Tyler told her. "I...um...I would never..."

"It's alright Tyler, I get it." Shelby told him. "I know I'd have been freaked out if I saw a clone of myself. I'd probably have done the same thing."

Tyler felt a little better about the whole thing, but just imagining how much he had to have hurt her made her feel sick to her stomach. He had attacked full-on, no holding back at all. Even when he considered the fact the Energems accelerated their healing, he knew that Shelby had to have been hurt pretty badly.

"Whatever this is, it's pretty weird." Chase said, for seemingly the millionth time. "I mean, none of these things make sense. One minute, Kendall's shrinking, and then Tyler's seeing Shelby as a clone...and what about that brawl at the mall?"

"The news report said hundreds of people won the sweepstakes. The odds against that are astronomical." Riley stated.

"Impossible would be more like it." Kendall answered. "But what's the connection?"

"I think she just wants to create as much chaos as possible." Tyler answered. "I mean...she brought Fury down from the ship into the middle of a fight! That hurt him as much as it did us! Why would a monster want to harm one of its own?"

"Maybe it's just touched in the head." Chase suggested. "Fury said it had been kept in solitary right? Can you imagine being held in prison alone for a couple of million years?"

"Well, I for one am way too hungry to even begin to figure this out." Riley answered. "Can't we go home and try to figure this out tomorrow?"

Just then, Shelby got a text message. Looking it up, she saw it was from Christie.

"That's Christie; she said she wants to see me." She told them. "She says she got caught up in that battle."

"She was?" Tyler asked. "I didn't see her."

"The riot went through the whole mall; we could easily have missed her." Riley conceded. "You should go and make sure she's alright."

"She's waiting for me at the 7-11." Shelby told them. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Well then, I guess we should be getting back home too." Chase answered. "If we leave now, we can stop by the toy store on the way."

"Alright, but if I see one cell phone camera, I am NOT going to be happy!" Kendall snapped grumpily as she allowed Chase to help her down from the work bench. "And at least TRY not to dress me as a fairy princess or something. I'm sure there are some dolls with normal clothing."

Shelby got to the 7-11, finding Christie sitting outside with a couple of slushies. She waved Shelby over as she saw her.

"Hey there, I took the liberty." Christie told her. "I didn't know what you normally drink, but I figured who doesn't like strawberry right?"

"Thanks." Shelby answered, sitting on the kerb with her. She saw that Christie had a few bruises and grazes. "So, you got caught up in that whole business at the mall huh?"

"Yeah, that was pretty wild." She admitted. "I tried to keep my head down, but things got a little strange."

"A lot of things have been pretty strange lately." Shelby admitted. "I just have no idea what the hell is going on anymore. Everything is seriously messed up."

"I'm starting to get the impression things are just like that in this city." Christie told her. "At least there are a few distractions to take our minds off things."

"If you're talking about Tyler...I'm not sure about that." Shelby told her. "Something really weird happened between us, and...this stupid city, why did monsters have to attack here?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with the Rangers showing up." Christie answered. "That's usually the way it works right?"

"I know, it's just...nothing that's happening makes any sense." Shelby said in frustration. "I just wish I knew what was going on!"

Just then, Christie's necklace started to glow. Shelby felt a sinking feeling in her chest, and looked to Christie. She just smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have said that." She answered, getting up and stepping away, before changing back into her armoured form.


	8. Power of Wishes

Shelby started to back away as she saw Christie standing before her in her true form. Her featureless silver mask was far from the bright, cheerful face she had come to know and even come to like. As Christie advanced on her, drawing her daggers, Shelby stumbled and started to scrabble away.

"Christie?" She asked. "You're the monster?"

"Wow, you really are quick." She quipped sarcastically, taking a sick delight in Shelby's shock. "Kendall may have her...short-comings...right now, but maybe she was right about you all along."

"You did this?" Shelby asked. "You did all of this?"

"Wow, two for two! You're doing well for you!" Christie taunted her.

"But...why?" Shelby asked.

"You really want to know? I did it because it was FUN!" She responded. "Now just give it a second and my spell will take full effect and you'll finally realise what I did."

Shelby felt a warm glow in her mind, and she got a few vivid images, seeing countless others of numerous species...she finally saw a pattern.

"Wishes...you grant wishes." Shelby responded, starting to see what was going on. Christie just laughed.

"I grant wishes." She confirmed. "It's not my fault people just aren't very thoughtful about the wishes they make. Those people at the mall all wanted to win the sweepstake...so they did! Is it my fault they're unhappy they all won it at the same time and only got pocket change?"

Shelby got back to her feet, still backing away. Christie just advanced on her, starting to scrape her daggers against each other in an intimidating way.

"Some of yours were the most fun though. You hated Kendall so much, you resented her, and you wished she wouldn't look down on you." Christie explained. "I guess now she'll ALWAYS look up to you."

As Christie lunged for her, Shelby threw herself aside, her blades sparking off a wall as she regained her composure.

"You did that?" Shelby asked.

"Strictly speaking YOU did." Christie continued. "Chase wished that Riley would 'lighten up'...I guess on his current diet plan that's bound to happen."

Shelby again ducked out of the way as Christie went for her. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She felt her heart freezing up as it was all explained. She liked Christie, she trusted her, she had been the one to talk the others into bringing her into the fold...close enough to cause the harm she had.

"Riley wished that Chase would stop hitting on every girl he saw. Now...well, he doesn't does he?" She asked, powering up a huge energy ball. It hit Shelby hard, at which she flew, crashing into a parked car a little way off, setting off the alarm. She fought for breath, certain that if it wasn't for the Energem's power, most of her bones would almost certainly have been broken by the impact. It still felt like it wasn't far off it. Christie came across, placing a hand on Shelby's forehead, beginning to stroke her hair. She smiled as she saw the look in Shelby's eyes.

"Then there was your deepest, most desperate, most selfish wish. You wanted Tyler, you wanted him to see you the way you see him." Christie told her.

"So now he does." Shelby answered. "That's why he thinks I'm a clone."

"Well, you finally got there." Christie answered, bringing up one of her daggers. "It is a shame though, you're such a careless dreamer, I'm sure I'd have had a blast with you still around. Now though, since you know too much..."

As she brought down the dagger though, Shelby blocked her arm, kicking her in the face, before rolling off the car hood, standing before her. She was breathing heavily, a little shaky on her feet. She looked around, just as Christie got back up.

"That wasn't very nice girlfriend!" She taunted her. "Oh...you're looking around...you're looking to run off aren't you? I guess I should expect that from you!"

Shelby stopped stock still hearing this.

"Oh, you're all big with the ideas and grand wishes, but when it comes down to it, you always run don't you?" She asked. "You're too weak to tell your boss she doesn't treat you right, so you just sit and quietly resent her. You want so badly to be a palaeontologist, but when it comes to putting in the ground work, you just want to be handed everything on a plate right off the bat without doing anything to earn it!"

Shelby sneered hearing this. She never considered herself a coward. If anyone crossed her, she would stand up for herself. If she wanted anything, she always worked to get it. Yet something about Christie's words hit her, just got to her. She pulled out her communicator.

"Oh, and as for Tyler...you know what you want from him, and yet all you do is sit around and whine like a baby when you don't get it, quietly making wishes when things don't go your way." Christie concluded. "So, go ahead, call him. You know you want to. You know you want him to sweep in and save you like he always does."

Shelby put her communicator away, and instead called up her morpher. She stared straight at Christie."

"I thought you were my friend, but obviously you don't know me as well as you thought you did." She replied. "Guess what I'm wishing for now! UNLEASH THE POWER!"

Back at the apartment, Riley was just sitting, staring at a bowl in front of him. His eyes betrayed how hungry he was, and everyone in the room could hear his stomach growling, but he just sat with a fork in his hand, staring at it.

"Oh for God's sake Riley, who the hell can't eat spaghetti hoops?" Tyler asked him. "Whenever I was sick as a kid, my mom used to give me that all the time."

"I want to eat it, but...I just...I can't." Riley replied, throwing down his fork.

"Hey, leave him alone. If he isn't ready to eat yet, that's his choice." Chase told Tyler, coming to his side, moving in closely. "I mean...it's not like he's particularly unhealthy. He may not exactly be you but...he's not in any danger yet."

"Uh...Chase? A little personal space?" Tyler replied, taking a step away.

"All I'm saying is, it isn't like Kendall can't set him up on a drip if he needs it. She did it to me a few times." Chase told him. "He'll eat when he's ready."

"I don't know if I'll ever be ready." Riley grumbled. "I swear I already feel like three pounds lighter."

Chase just stopped for a moment. Something started to come to him.

"Uh...what did you say again?" Chase asked.

"I said I feel..."

"Lighter." Chase responded. "Guys...I have a crazy theory...it's probably totally wrong..."

"Well it's better than what we've got, I've got nothing." Tyler answered. "Let's hear it."

"The monster made all those people win the sweepstakes right?" Chase asked. They both just nodded. "How many people don't wish they could win something like that?"

"I really don't follow." Tyler answered. "What's that got to do with Riley?"

"The other day, right before this...I wished he'd lighten up." Chase told them. They both just stared at him. "Now he is lightening up?"

"Chase, that's pretty..."

"Wait...hold on a second." Riley said, hearing this. "The other day, I wished Chase would stop hitting on every girl he sees. Now...he's been...well..."

"OK, that's all...a bit of a stretch...but it is a coincidence." Tyler told them. "So you think the monster grants wishes...but is a troll about how it does it?"

"It's pretty flimsy." Chase admitted.

"It's really weak." Riley admitted. "But it's better than anything we've got."

Just then, they heard a...well...knock on the door would be glorifying it. It was barely audible. Tyler went to the door.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's me!" Kendall called through. "Would you open the door?"

Tyler opened the door, at which they all found her standing before them, and they had to struggle not to laugh. She was now the size of a Barbie doll...and she was wearing a wedding dress. She did not look at all happy about the situation either.

"Um...what can we do for you?" Tyler asked, a hand over his face to cover his smirk and stifling a chuckle at her expense.

"Chase, we'll talk about your wardrobe choices later. My alarm just went off. That monster showed up again." She told them. "It's just...I left my cell phone on my unit and...now I can't reach it."

"The monster showed up?" Tyler asked. He checked his own communicator, which he had muted while they dealt with Riley, only to see the alert. He noticed something else too. "Shelby's out there!"

"You need to head out there. You can get me to the lab on the way." Kendall told them. "If this monster is back, we need to finish it before things get any worse!"

"How much worse can they be?" Tyler asked, seeing Chase again getting uncomfortably close and having to brush him away. "Alright, we'll get you there."

"Of course, there is one thing we need to do first." Chase answered. He pulled a Ken doll, dressed as a groom out of his jacket. He had bought it at the same time as Kendall's outfit. He placed it next to her, before taking a snapshot with his cell phone.

"CHASE!" She yelled. "You are SO going to pay for that!"

"Oh I don't doubt it." He chuckled as he picked her up, while the others got their stuff together. "But it was SOOO worth it!"

Back in the parking lot outside the 7-11, Shelby had morphed, and she was locked in a fierce battle with Christie. Even without her powers, Christie was a strong fighter, certainly strong enough to give Shelby a good run for her money. Shelby managed to disarm Christie of her daggers, slashing her a few times across the chest with her Dino Sabre. Christie staggered away, before looking down, seeing scores on her armour, marking a rough S shape. She stared up to Shelby, who just adopted a guard.

"No one messes with me and gets away with it!" Shelby snapped. Christie summoned up a long, elegantly curved khopesh, which she swung around in practiced, two-handed arcs. Shelby just put away her Dino Sabre.

"So you want to bring out the big toys do you?" Shelby asked. She transformed into Dino Steel Mode, summoning up her Tricera Drill. "Before we do this, I only want to know one thing. Why did you do this?"

"Why the hell not?" Christie answered as they rushed at each other again.

Elsewhere, the guys were on their Raptor Cycles, heading for the battle ground. They had dropped off Kendall, and picked up Koda on their way. As they blasted through the streets, completely shattering any form of traffic laws, Tyler got on his communicator.

"Kendall, we're about five minutes from their location." He rushed out. "How's Shelby?"

"Her energy levels are taking a battering, but they're still up there." Kendall assured him. "She's definitely putting up a fight."

Tyler couldn't help smiling. He had no doubt she would. It was one of the things he and Shelby shared; they rarely if ever took the safe road in any situation. No one would have thought the less of her for calling for help or for running when faced with a monster alone. The fact she had stayed to face her was just Shelby all over. It was the girl who grabbed a crate off a monster and ran with it, even though she had absolutely no idea what was in the crate! All that mattered was she knew it didn't belong to him! He was often described as reckless, and he had to admit that he generally lived his life not really thinking things through too deeply before he did them. Shelby was a lot like him...it was one of the things he really identified with her about.

"Tyler, look out!" Koda called out. The four boys all skidded to a halt, seeing a horde of viviks in the street.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" Chase protested. "We need to make this..."

His words tailed off as the viviks started to fall in on each other, growing to massive size. Before long, three massive viviks were rampaging through the streets.

"Alright, we need a Zord." Tyler told them. "Koda, go after Shelby. Chase, Riley, you're with me!"

As Koda raced off to help Shelby, Tyler, Chase and Riley all summoned their Megazord, preparing to deal with the immediate threat to the city. Tyler got to his control panel.

"Alright guys, we all know what we have to do. Riley, how are you holding up?"

"I'm hungry, but I'll last." He told him.

"Chase?" Tyler asked.

"Oh, I'm just fine back here." Chase told him. "The view's great."

"CHASE! Get your mind on the job!" Tyler snapped. "Shelby, please finish this soon."

Back at the site of her own battle, Shelby was once again in trouble, as Christie took her to task with her khopesh. She was pinned to the hood of a car, while Christie stood over her, driving the blade down, trying to slice it through her. Shelby could feel it crushing into her chest, driving air out of her.

"Well this isn't the most satisfying way to destroy someone, letting them destroy themselves with their own dreams is so much more fun." Christie told her. "But I guess this will have to do."

Shelby could feel the end was near, her body was close to giving up, but her spirit was so much stronger. She couldn't let Christie win, not when the others didn't know what she had done. She looked for strength, only to find inspiration. She could see Christie's necklace hanging close.

"You know what?" Shelby asked. "I wish I knew why you did this!"

Christie just released her, backing up. Her necklace was glowing. She looked to Shelby.

"I found this crystal, I was unique among my kind, I figured out its power, what it could do." She told her. "Once I had...I was nothing. I was just a living, breathing wishing well. Everyone came to me with all their petty little problems, begging me to make them right. For a long time I enjoyed the adulation, the worship. I was a goddess!"

Shelby slid off the hood of the car, trying to regain her breath as Christie ranted at her.

"But over time I saw the reality of my people, how truly self serving and despicable they really were. Their wishes were always for themselves, never of others. Some of them left me feeling sick to my stomach. Then one day, I figured out a way out. When the most handsome man in my city came to me I knew what his wish would be." She explained. "He already had everything, wealth, fame, looks, a beautiful wife and kids, but it was never enough for his ego. He wished to become the most handsome and popular man in the world."

"So what did you do?" Shelby asked. Christie just smiled.

"He never specified WHICH world." She answered. "In a moment of spite, I granted his wish by putting him on an uninhabited planet several light-years from his home. He got his wish, he was the most handsome and popular man there."

Shelby fumbled around, looking for her Tricera Drill. Christie just stood over her, ready to bring the blade down.

"So now you know...does it make you feel better?" Christie asked her. Just then, she heard an engine from down the street, and lasers scattered around her.

"Shelby!" Koda called to her. Shelby took the moment of distraction. It was all she needed. In a huge, rising uppercut, she tore into Christie's armour, almost ripping her apart. The Tricera Drill hit the crystal necklace, shattering it in a blinding light. As Christie hit the ground, Shelby was barely able to stand.

Christie was already scrabbling around, finding the pieces of her shattered, useless crystal.

"No...my power!" She stammered. "NO!"

Shelby approached her slowly as Christie knelt, letting the pieces of her crystal fall between her fingers, looking at them mournfully.

"Do you really want to know what I want to know? Why would you do this to me?" Shelby asked her. "Those others I understand...I wasn't anything but nice to you! I trusted you! I was the one that convinced the others to give you a chance! What did I do to deserve this?"

"You did nothing to deserve this." Christie admitted, grabbing her khopesh once more.

"Don't do this." Shelby told her.

"But after all I did, everyone knew how dangerous I was. Sledge held me in isolation. He knew I could use any wish against him. I've spent millions of years in his captivity."

"Please..."

"Millions of years, unable to see or hear! Can you begin to imagine what that was like?" Christie screamed. "Now I don't even have that power to offer him. What do you think will happen to me when I go back?"

"Then don't go back!" Shelby told her. "I...we can protect you!"

"After all I did you would protect me?" She sneered. "Even if you wanted to, which I doubt, you'd never be able to save me from Sledge! No one can!"

"Christie don't..."

Before she could say anything though, Christie had run for her, swinging her khopesh. Shelby responded the only way instinct would allow. She could feel it as the Tricera Drill punched through her armour, piercing her chest. Christie slumped against her for a moment, and Shelby could only look at her as she looked into her eyes.

"Not all wishes are bad, just like not all of them are hopeless." She told her. "Don't give up on yours."

With that, she fell to the ground, before exploding, leaving nothing behind. Shelby just looked down to the scorch marks on the ground and her Tricera Drill fell from her grip. She barely noticed as Koda put his arm around her.

"Come, we go home." He told her, leading her away.


	9. Shelby's Battle

Up on his ship, Sledge was watching the battle, cradling his chin in his hand as Poisandra played with Curio at the foot his throne. They had liberated one of the creatures from the cell block, a curious little thing only about a foot tall, with bright feathers and a reptilian face, with a long, whipping tongue. They were playing a cruel game, allowing the creature to run a little way, before grabbing it, sometimes by the tail, other times by the feathers, and yanking him back, before smacking him in punishment. They taunted the creature with the open door, leading to an escape pod, so close and yet still agonisingly out of reach. Fury was standing in the corner, his injuries from his recent battle with the Rangers bound by Wrench, who often acted as the ship's healer as well as the mechanic. Poisandra saw her monster hit the ground and explode as so many before her had done, and could hear the low grumble starting to rise up in Sledge's throat. To anyone else, that was a signal to run. For her...it still made her nervous enough to lose grip of the prisoner.

"Sledgeums..." She whined as the creature ran from her grasp. Curio lunged for it, but it just managed to whip past him. It was only stopped from getting to the escape pod by Fury, stomping down on it, spread-eagling it on the floor with a pathetic squeaking sound as it continued to scramble, its freedom only about a foot from its claws. "I...I...I was sure this would work! I had no idea she'd be silly enough to grant the Pink Ranger's wish. If she'd only done as I'd said and kept quietly granting wishes..."

"She failed, that is all that matters." Sledge said in an angry tone, before looking to her. Poisandra was looking to him sweetly, pleading with him not to be angry. He just groaned. "Oh brother, what am I going to do with you?"

"I can think of some ideas." Fury muttered. Sledge snapped round to him, glaring at him as Fury picked up the tiny creature, which continued to struggle and claw in its desperate attempt to get away. It was cowed into silence with a quick smack across the back of its head, curling up and started to whimper.

"I wasn't asking you Fury." Sledge warned him, before looking back to his fiancée. "I do have to admit, she's done a much better job than a lot of the monsters we've sent. I suppose I can't blame you for the fact she used her power so carelessly."

Fury just rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. The creature in his hand started to let out a chirping whimper that sounded a little too much like laughter for his liking. He smacked it again to bring it into order.

"Oh Sledgeums, you know how sorry I am." Poisandra told him. "I'd never want to fail you. The longer this war lasts, the longer I have to wait on my honeymoon..."

She approached him and started stroking his shoulders gently. Sledge started to relax a little.

"I'm as desperate to crush these Rangers as you are." She assured him. "After all...it has been millions of years since we had a decent holiday, just the two of us..."

"Fine, apology accepted." Sledge answered, getting up from his throne. He fired his blaster, hitting the maximiser button, activating the ray. "Perhaps she can cause a little more destruction and be of some use. Her power was her real asset. Without it...she is worthless."

"That's it?" Fury growled, handing the tiny creature to Wrench to take back to its cell. The mechanic meekly took it, heading out of the room before the fireworks could start. Fury was clearly livid. He gestured to himself. "HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT THEY DID TO ME? THAT WITCH NEARLY GOT ME KILLED!"

"I guess next time you need to be a little more prepared." Sledge told him.

"No, this can't just be ignored, I was almost destroyed!" Fury stated, snatching up his sword. Curio quailed in fear, while Poisandra, as always, hid behind Sledge. Sledge just faced him, tensing up, his muscles straining beneath his armour as he prepared for Fury to make a move. He pointed to her. "I demand satisfaction!"

"You know better than to think I would allow you to touch her." Fury answered, rising up to his full height. Poisandra just grinned and stuck out her tongue behind his back, taunting Fury. "Of course...you do have a point. You have been wronged by one of her pets, so...you deserve a little compensation."

"What?" Poisandra and Fury both said, looking to him curiously. This was an unexpected move. He just took Poisandra by the arm.

"Play with the pet for a little while." Sledge told him. "Just...ensure it gets back to my sweet in one piece."

As he led her from the room, Poisandra looked to Curio apologetically. She knew Sledge was right; Fury did have a right to be angry. Curio ran for the door, which slammed shut behind them, sealing him in. He pounded on the door.

"Poisandra!" He called out in desperation. "Mistress!"

Fury just started to head towards him. It wasn't the same as getting his hands on Poisandra once and for all, but at least it would appease him for a little while. Curio turned to him, quaking in fear.

"Please, I had nothing to do with it!" Curio told him. "Please, have mercy!"

"You wish." Fury replied as he grabbed the creature, hoisting it off the ground. "Playtime."

Back on Earth, Tyler, Chase and Riley were busy with the giant Viviks attacking the city. They sprang off the side of a skyscraper, opening fire with Chase's cannon, blasting one of them apart, rolling back to the Zord's feet.

"Man, you've got to love this thing!" Chase said with a smile. "I bet none of the other Zords could move like this."

"Well actually..."

"No one asked for a Ranger nerd lesson Riley." Chase interrupted him. "I'm just showing a little appreciation to our Dino buddies!"

The other Vivik lunged at them, catching the cannon arm in its jaws, starting to grapple with the Zord, trying to drag it down. Chase, Riley and Tyler all felt the grip through their control interface.

"Damn, that thing's strong." Riley remarked. "Tyler, try and roll the shoulder up."

"What?" Tyler asked him.

"It's a fencing move." Riley told him. "If the blades are locked, you try and get your blade underneath and then roll the opponent's out. If I can get my blade free..."

"Right, don't talk about it, just do it!" Tyler told him, bracing himself. He backed the Zord into a building as the Vivik attempted to clip its leg to sweep it, keeping it upright. He hooked the Zord's shoulder under the arm securing Riley's arm. "OK, get ready to make the move. Go for it...NOW!"

He slipped the creature's arm up, onto the shoulder, giving Riley the space to slash at it, causing it to scream out loud, letting them go. Chase got them some more room with a few shots from his cannon. Powering up a huge attack, Riley finished it off. In a huge explosion, the creature left the street deserted once more.

"Creature ext..." Tyler started to say, before they saw the Magna Beam hitting the ground. He looked around, seeing the masked creature growing to tower over the neighbourhood a few blocks away. "Aw, you've got to be kidding."

"Check it out, it looks like Koda and Shelby are already on it." Chase stated as the Blue and Pink Zords came into view, beginning the attack. Tyler thought about their position, before looking to the others.

"Chase, you and Riley detach and head for the museum." He instructed him, looking to the Black Ranger. "Check in with Kendall, make sure everything's good back at the museum. Check the reports, see if things are calming down in the city now the spell's broken."

"And what makes you think the spell is broken?" Chase asked him. Just then, they heard a loud grumble, and looked around to where Riley was doubled over his console, clutching his stomach. Tyler just looked back to Chase. "Alright, enough said. Just kick that thing's arse for me."

"Why, what do you have against her?" Riley asked. "It was us that have to put up with you."

"Let's just say thanks to her I won't be going to my favourite skate park anymore." Chase muttered as they left the cockpit, their zords disappearing back to their hiding places. Tyler took to the controls, driving the T-Rex as fast as he could towards the latest monster. He was glad to see Shelby still in the fight; he could only pray that Koda had made it to her in time when they had been delayed by the Viviks. Seeing the Tricera Zord, he satisfied himself that Shelby was still in the fight. He only hoped that the monster hadn't taken too much out of her before they could get to her.

Back on the prison ship, Wrench nervously made his way back to the bridge, having been ordered to see to Curio. While Sledge was only too happy to allow Fury to vent his frustrations on him as opposed to his fiancée, he also knew that as her pet, Poisandra had a lot of fondness for the little patchwork creature. He had assured her that he would have it stopped before any irreparable damage was caused.

He opened the door, finding Fury standing in the middle of the room, holding...well...it was a piece of Curio, not that Wrench could be entirely sure WHAT piece from here. He just approached slowly.

"F...f...fury?" He stammered. "M...m...master Sledge has asked me to tell you..."

"Don't worry, I'm done here." Fury told him, striding towards him, thrusting the piece into his hand. "I'll be in my chambers if I'm needed."

Wrench just looked worriedly at the thing in his hands, before throwing it aside. He looked around in panic.

"Curio?" He asked nervously.

"Over here." Curio responded in a weak voice. Wrench breathed a sigh of relief. He had created Curio from spare parts of prisoners that had displeased Sledge enough that he decided they were no longer worth keeping. It wouldn't be the first time he was literally in pieces. Even despite her affection for him, Poisandra with the power she possessed could sometimes be a little careless when she played with him. It wasn't the first time he had to re-attach something, but this time...he had a lot of work to do looking at the pieces all around. As he finally found Curio's head, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. The nature of his being was that he would be able to be rebuilt if anything happened to him...but his mind was something that Wrench was keen to preserve. He didn't know what would happen if he needed to start grafting new brain parts in to repair any damage.

"I came here as soon as Sledge ordered me to." Wrench assured him. "Are you...?"

"Are you really going to ask me that when I'm sitting here like Humpty Dumpty?" Curio interrupted him. "Look what he did to me!"

"Well don't worry, all the king's horses and all the king's men never had me." Wrench assured him, starting to gather up body parts. "I'll have you back together in time for bed time."

Back on Earth, Koda slammed the tail of his Stego Zord into Cassie, distracting her from the Tricera Zord, allowing Shelby to hit her with the Tricera Drill just as she sent the Stego Zord tumbling away with a blast.

"You won't hurt any of my friends again!" Shelby screamed at her, turning and smashing into her repeatedly with the horns of the Zord's horns.

"Me? I did nothing; it was you that did it all!" Cassie replied, grabbing the Tricera Zord and picking it up, glaring at it. "YOU were the one that made those wishes! YOU were the one..."

"Will you please shut UP?" Tyler roared as his Zord ran into the area, swiping her with its tail. Christie hit the ground just as Tyler rounded on her. He took a quick look over to the Tricera Zord, seeing that it was damaged, but appeared to be intact. He couldn't help being relieved to know that it was still in the fight. He had no doubt that Shelby would fight as long and as hard as she could once she found the monster. It was a miracle that she had lasted so well on her own. He helped roll the Zord back to its feet.

"Is everyone alright?" Tyler asked.

"I've still got plenty left." Shelby assured him.

"Koda fine." Koda replied. "We finish this?"

"You heard the man." Tyler answered. "Let's bring it together!"

They formed up the Megazord, coming together in the cockpit. As they did so, Tyler couldn't help looking in Shelby's direction. Her suit was scorched, and she was holding herself up on the console, but he couldn't help smiling. Shelby saw him looking.

"What?" She asked.

"You have no idea how good it is seeing you." He clarified. The whole Zord rocked, and slid backwards. Koda was straining as he held his shield up to Christie's attacks as she threw all the power she had left into every blow.

"Koda fighting by self?" He asked, grunting with the exertion, holding the controls. Tyler and Shelby both grabbed the controls.

"Sorry Koda." Tyler replied as he started to power up the Zord. "Are you ready for this Shelby?"

"More than ready." Shelby told him. They unleashed the Megazord's ultimate attack, tearing through the creature. It looked back towards them, reaching out for them, before falling backwards and exploding. Tyler started to turn back and forth, looking around in all directions.

"What is it?" Shelby asked.

"Just making sure this time." Tyler answered as he finally satisfied himself the battle was over. "Monster Extinct!"

Meanwhile, Riley and Chase arrived back at the museum, making their way into the lab. Riley had a humungous bag of Cheetos, which he was demolishing with gusto. Chase grabbed the bag, stopping him as they got into the lab.

"C'mon man I'm hungry!" Riley protested, spraying pieces through a mouthful of processed corn snacks. Chase just held up a hand.

"Riley, stay quiet." He told him. "Kendall?"

"What?" He asked. It was only then that as he looked around, he noticed he could see no sign of Kendall. They both started to make their way through the lab.

"There's no sign of her. Kendall?" Chase continued to call out. "Kendall?"

"Ms Morgan, are you here?" Riley called out.

"I'm in here!" She yelled through. They both looked to each other, hearing her voice coming from Koda's cave.

"Kendall, are you alright?" Chase asked. "The spell's broken and we..."

"I know the spell's broken!" Kendall stated as they got to the entrance. They could see a shadow, but it pulled back as their shadows entered. "Don't come in!"

"Kendall, we just came to..." Chase's words tailed off as Riley grabbed his arm.

"The spell wore off on us. That's why I'm eating like a pig." Riley reminded him.

"Yeah, so?" Chase asked.

Riley bent down, picking up a piece of cloth, handing it to Chase. He looked at it, inspecting it closely. He eventually recognised it as the dress Kendall had been wearing. Well...what was left of it anyway.

"She was wearing this when the spell wore off." Riley reminded him. "And since I'm now able to eat, when the spell wore off..."

"I returned to normal!" Kendall concluded. "Now, don't come in...and for the love of GOD can someone go to my apartment and get me some clothes?"

"OK, this time, Even I wouldn't dare to try for a cell phone pic." Chase said with a gulp. "Um...alright...we'll be back in about 20 minutes."


	10. Shelby's Sincerest Wish

The Rangers stayed at the museum until late into the night, taking stock of the insane couple of days that they'd had. In less than a week, they'd found, and lost, seemingly the perfect employee to help free up some of their time at the museum for more of their Ranger duties, been the victim of some extremely debilitating and baffling curses, and faced numerous fraught battles. They'd faced numerous threats in the couple of months since they'd taken up the Energems, but to call this adventure unique would have to be an understatement.

Kendall came into the lab, wearing a pair of jeans and a purple T-shirt, bearing the name of a band none of them had ever heard of. Chase had returned with some clothes at her request. They all looked at her, a little surprised to see her dressed so informally. She was carrying a large tray of food. She'd found and prepared as much fruit and vegetables from the restaurant as she could find. Riley by now had not eaten in two full days, and so now that he could eat again, he was making up for missed time...with gusto! She had figured if he was going to stuff himself, he may as well do so without filling up on junk.

"Ms Morgan, I'm digging the new look." Tyler complimented her. Kendall just looked to him with a little smile and just shrugged.

"You don't think I wear suits all the time do you?" She asked him.

"Actually, we were starting to wonder." Chase admitted. "I couldn't believe it when I found a pair of jeans in your wardrobe."

"I don't get much of a chance to wear casual clothing these days." She admitted. It definitely was different, seeing them while not wearing the business clothing she normally did in her job at the museum, though it was definitely preferable to be wearing something...and it was DEFINITELY better than what she was wearing only a couple of hours previously. "I guess I spend most of my time working these days."

"I have to ask, who exactly are...?" Tyler started to ask, noting the logo.

"They're just some garage band." She interrupted him quickly. "They played a few gigs in and around my university."

"I've never heard of them." Chase admitted.

"Yeah...you won't have. Like I said, it was just some part-time band at my uni." She rushed out, looking to Riley. "Riley, don't eat so much you make yourself sick. You've not eaten in a couple of days; eating again will be a shock to your system. You don't want to make yourself ill."

"I'm just glad everything's back to normal." Chase said as he lay back against one of the walls, absent-mindedly spinning the wheels of his skateboard with his fingers. He looked to the guys, having been thinking a lot about the way he had been acting the last couple of days, and seeing the way they reacted to it. "I...I...don't really sound like that do I?"

They all just fell silent for a moment. They knew he didn't mean any harm by his behaviour. He was a shameless flirt, but he always knew when to back off. It wasn't as though he would ever press the matter once someone made it clear they weren't interested. Usually girls would kind of humour him, but the guys...the fact none of them were that way inclined meant the shock factor alone got a bit more of a reaction from them than Chase was used to.

"Well..." Kendall started to say, trying to think how to phrase it delicately. She'd been in the position pretty early on where she had to put an end to his constant lines. She was still a little blunt and direct with people, but she had been a lot more forceful then. Her time with the others had eased her up a little, and she really didn't want to hurt him.

"You can come on a little strong." Shelby answered, moving to his side. She placed a hand softly on his arm. She looked to him. "It's...not as flattering as you think. Sometimes it's more than a little bit of a turn off."

"I'll say." Tyler chuckled. He saw the way Chase was looking at him. "Sorry man, but she has a point."

"If you want me to be honest, it just...it all feels a little forced." Shelby told him, trying to think best how to explain. She didn't really want to harm any of her friends any more than they had already been harmed by all of this. She was the one that convinced them to let Christie into the museum, she still felt responsible for what happened. "It kind of feels like you're a caricature, not a real person, which is a shame because the person I know you are is actually a pretty great guy. Maybe if you'd let more people see more of that guy, they might get to like him."

"That's pretty good advice." Kendall complimented her, looking back to Chase. "You might want to think about it."

"I guess I can try pulling it back a little." He answered. "Thanks for putting up with me guys."

"Wow, I guess some good might come out of all this after all." Tyler answered hearing this. "It almost makes me wonder what all those other wishes were."

"Well I know that Chase wished I would lighten up." Riley replied, glaring at him. "Way to be specific."

"How can I help it if I didn't know we had a very literal genie granting our wishes?" Chase answered.

"You don't have to tell me what you wished." Kendall told the others. "I never thought I'd be happy to be five foot one again, but as long as I'm not struggling to reach the coffee machine, I'll be fine."

Tyler could see Shelby shifting a little uncomfortably. He knew she had spent longer around Christie than the others; it seemed likely that a lot of the unintended wishes were hers. It still made him curious about one thing though. He had been affected by a wish that had made him believe she was a clone. What could anyone have wished for that would make him think that?

"Shoot, it's getting late." Shelby stated, noticing the time. "Mom's going to freak if I get home too late."

"Well, we still have the wedding to prepare for, and we're all kind of beat. I think it'd be prudent to have the museum close for tomorrow." Kendall told them. "That should give us time to rest up and set everything up."

"I am all for that plan." Chase answered, getting up. "So I guess now we all get to go home for some well-earned rest."

"I'll see Shelby home." Tyler announced. Shelby just looked to him, shaking her head.

"Tyler, that's alright, it really isn't..."

"Please, I insist." Tyler told her, looking to her a little nervously. "You've had a few tough fights recently and...at least one of those was against me. I wouldn't feel right..."

"Well, if it'll make you feel better, I guess that would be alright." Shelby answered, feeling a little sheepish. She had no doubt that Tyler felt badly about hurting her, but she also knew that under the spell, seeing her looking exactly like him...his reasons for doing so were pretty understandable. She felt guilty about putting him in that position. "Come on, mom's going to worry if I stay out much longer."

"Then I guess it's just us for the ride home." Chase told the others. "Is there anything you want us to do before we go?" Chase asked Koda. The caveman just looked at him.

"Not wish for anything." He replied.

Up on Sledge's prison ship, Wrench was just finishing up putting Curio back together. Poisandra came into the room, just as he was reattaching his right hand.

"Oh Wrench, you fixed him! You amazing wonderful creature!" She gushed, bouncing with excitement. "Oh my precious Curio, I'm so pleased to see you back. I was so worried when I saw what that horrible meanie Fury did to you!"

"I'm just glad to be back in one piece." Curio replied as she came across, petting him gently.

"It really was nothing." Wrench told her. "After working on all of Sledge's tech for all these years, putting him back together was child's play."

"Well I'm just glad you could." Poisandra answered, starting to look around all the devices and jars lining his workshop. "Who would have thought all these random things could bring back my precious...?"

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Wrench rushed out as she reached for a glowing jar, snatching it off the work bench and cradling it to him protectively.

"What?" She asked. "What is that? Is it dangerous?"

"EXTREMELY!" Wrench answered as he placed it carefully in a case.

"Oooh, what is it?" Poisandra asked him.

"It's something I've been working on for a while." He told her.

"Is it something to use against the Rangers?" She asked excitedly. He just nodded.

"Once it's finished it will be." He told her. She just took Curio and started to lead him out of the room.

"Well, when it's finished, let me know." She told him. "Come on Curio; let's find someone to play with."

Back on Earth, Tyler and Shelby were walking to her place, largely in silence. Neither of them really knew what to say about what had happened. Tyler had a lot of questions, a lot to talk about, but he couldn't find a way to begin. He saw the way that Shelby was wrapping her arms around herself.

"Are you cold?" He asked. "Would you like my jacket?"

"I'm fine, really." She told him. The truth was, she just felt really strange being around him. She knew how she felt about him, the way her guts twisted up any time he was near her. They rounded a corner, into another street.

"So, I'm guessing the way you reacted what happened to Kendall was your wish?" He asked.

"Please, this is embarrassing enough." She told him.

"I'm just wondering...what exactly did you wish?" He asked her. "I promise I won't say anything to Kendall."

"I was feeling down because she'd turned me down for another dig." Shelby told him. "I was feeling underappreciated and...I wished she wouldn't look down on me so much."

"You wished she wouldn't look down on you?" Tyler asked. "Well...I guess I can get what Christie was going for with that."

He could see that Shelby still felt badly about what happened, and couldn't bring himself to push it any further. He took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what I did." Tyler told her. "You know, for attacking you like I did."

"It's alright, I understand." Shelby said, trying to brush it off. "I mean, if I did look just like you..."

"I know, I just feel really badly about it. It's the reason I wanted to walk you home, to make sure you were OK." He told her, turning to face her. "I'd never really want to hurt you, you know that right?"

"It's fine Tyler; it really wasn't your fault." Shelby answered. "It was mine. I was the one that convinced you all to let Christie work for the museum. I should have realised it was all too good to be true."

"Hey, you were just trying to help." Tyler assured her. "Not to mention, she was actually a pretty good help. You know...when she wasn't trying to destroy the city with rogue wishes that is."

"Do you want to know what the crazy part is? I actually really liked her." Shelby told him. "We got along really well; I thought she was a friend. Some judge of character I am."

"You should never feel ashamed about reaching out to people. We all saw how you two were. She'd have been lucky to have a friend like you." Tyler told her. "It's her loss."

"The worst part is, given some of the stuff she said; I still kind of feel badly for her." Shelby admitted. "She can't really have faked all of that stuff could she? I kind of wonder...if she hadn't gotten sick of hearing everyone's selfish wishes...would she have been more like the Christie I was friends with?"

"I suppose that's probably the best way to think about it." Tyler told her. "I don't believe anyone starts out bad."

"So are you saying one time Sledge was a good guy?" She asked him. Tyler just chuckled.

"Well...maybe he's the exception that breaks the rule." He conceded. Shelby just looked to him with a smile.

"I'm just up here." She told him. "I think I can make it from here."

As she turned to leave, Tyler called her back. She was dreading this. Turning to him, she could see the look on his face.

"Shelby, can I ask one thing?" He asked her. She knew what was coming next; it was the question she was fearing he'd ask. "Do you mind if I ask what you wished for that made me see you as a clone?"

"Tyler, can you please not ask me that?" She replied. She already felt badly enough about what happened without having to admit that it happened because she wished he would see her how she saw him. It had happened because she couldn't bring herself to tell him what she meant to him. She still couldn't, afraid that if she did, she would no longer be able to hide. She would have to face his reaction; she would have to live with it if he told her he didn't like her in return, or worse, if he laughed at her. "Please?"

Tyler could see it was important to her, and instead just nodded. He watched as Shelby headed up the drive into her house, satisfying himself she had gotten home safely, before turning and heading for his apartment. He stopped as he got a text message. Opening it, he saw it was from Riley. He just smiled as he saw that it was a request that he stop by the all-night chemist for some stomach ache tablets.


	11. Shelby's Offer

The next day, the Rangers all got to the museum early. The museum was closed for the day while they organised things for the wedding the following day. It was as much an excuse for them to have a comparatively relaxing day after the hectic week they'd had. Tyler grumbled as he brought in another crate of supplies for the buffet.

"Oh come on man, it isn't that bad." Chase said as he helped Koda with some decorations. "It's something different..."

"Not that bad? Kendall just slapped another month onto my repayment plan." Tyler told him. "Apparently she wasn't happy with my negotiations over the rate."

"Koda glad Koda not get money." Koda answered with a little grin. He was still getting used to a lot of modern concepts, so right now the function of basic economics was beyond him. His people had embraced the concepts of bartering, trading skills and goods for other things they needed. If someone was particularly good at working with flint, they would trade tools and arrow heads for animal pelts from superior hunters and suchlike. However, he just couldn't get his head around why exactly they took this extra step of trading for useless pieces of metal and paper. He could understand why someone would want an animal pelt on a cold night or a piece of meat when they were hungry, but what was the point of money? It wasn't as though he could eat it...the coins especially tasted lousy. "Better Kendall get Koda what he needs."

"You know you're going to have to learn some time." Chase responded as he turned back to Tyler. "I guess it shows what happens when some guys see a pretty face."

"Really?" Tyler asked him. "If you'd done the negotiations, they'd probably have gotten the whole thing for free."

Koda just laughed hearing that. Shelby and Riley came in from the cafe at that point, carrying several large sodas.

"Hey, this place looks great." Shelby complimented them. "You guys really did all of this?"

"It's amazing what you can do with some hard work and some scotch tape." Chase said proudly. "I'm sure the lucky ladies are going to love it."

"I'm sure they are too." Riley answered as he took a seat by a raptor display. "If we keep up at this pace, we might even finish up a little early."

"Well don't go running off too early." Kendall announced as she came in from her office. "Gia said she's bringing some of her guests over after lunch to check out the arrangements for tomorrow, but once we get the OK from them...I don't see any reason we can't call it a day."

"Well I for one am glad to hear that." Tyler stated. Kendall then looked over to Shelby.

"Um...Shelby, can I have a word with you in my office please?" She asked. Shelby looked more than a little nervous. She didn't really have a particularly cordial relationship with Kendall. It wasn't strictly speaking that they didn't like each other...though she had to admit Kendall had her moments that made her think otherwise. They just had a habit of rubbing each other the wrong way. Shelby had to imagine that Kendall probably didn't appreciate being shrunk to the size of a Barbie doll by her careless wish. She wasn't entirely sure that she could really pull her up on a disciplinary for that, of course it wasn't like she couldn't make her job unpleasant for a while.

"Uh...sure I guess." Shelby answered as she followed Kendall to her office. As she got there, Kendall gestured to her to sit down. She could feel her chest starting to tighten up. This couldn't be good.

"Listen, Ms Morgan about the last couple of days..."

"Shelby, would you mind letting me speak?" Kendall asked her. She sat at the opposite side of the desk. "OK, I will admit, I wasn't exactly happy about the whole shrinking thing. It's not like I'm ever going to be in danger of pulling a slam dunk on a regulation ring, but not even being able to reach my desk...that was more than a little irritating."

"I know, and I'm sorry..."

"It was also something of a learning experience." Kendall told her, pulling something out of her desk. "Do you know what these are?"

"Uh...not exactly." Shelby answered honestly.

"They're comment cards, more accurately they're comment cards filled in by museum goers while I was...indisposed." She told her. "I have two complaining about the food, we always get a couple of those. We have ten complimenting the food. Four that comment on the gift shop..."

She tossed those comment cards aside, and held up a bundle, at least a couple of dozen.

"And these are all comments we've had about your tours." Kendall told her, handing them over. Shelby took the comment cards reluctantly, and started to cycle through them.

"Our entire trip was made by the young lady's amazing tour." She read aloud, looking to Kendall in surprise. She carried on. "Not only is she clearly well informed and knowledgeable, her enthusiasm and personality made the tour a true delight."

She flipped to another card.

"The tour guide was amazing. I've been to many museums, and the so called experts can often be dry and uninteresting. Shelby kept the tour exciting and entertaining, while also being educational and informative. I would be thrilled to bring my kindergarten class here as soon as I can arrange permission slips."

"There are 37 comment cards there, all of them praising your tours." Kendall told her. She took a deep breath as she looked back to Shelby. "I can't say I'm especially happy about everything that happened, but I guess it did show me one thing."

"What's that?" Shelby asked her.

"I guess I really haven't given you much of a chance around here." Kendall admitted. "But after seeing this, I guess it just goes to show that sometimes...I need a little help seeing when I have real talent working for me."

"Thanks." Shelby answered. "I really loved doing it. It may not be a dig team, but I really loved it."

"So how would you like to do it more regularly?" Kendall asked her. Shelby just shifted back a little in her chair.

"I'm sorry?"

"You manage to do something I don't when you take tours. You manage to keep people's attention." She admitted. "I have been told I can be a little dry when I'm taking tours."

"I'm sure you're..."

"I know I'm not exactly a people person." Kendall told her. "Listen, I'll still need you in the cafe, but weekends are the busiest days for tours. How about every weekend, and some of the school groups, you take care of the museum tours?"

"You mean it?" Shelby asked, unable to stop herself from smiling.

"Have you ever known me to kid?" Kendall asked her. "We'll start your new responsibilities this week after the wedding."

"Thank you Miss Morgan." Shelby rushed out. "I...I won't let you down, I promise!"

As Shelby was about to leave though, Kendall called her back. She just sighed and looked to her.

"Is there something else?" Shelby asked her.

"There's just one thing I haven't figured out about the last few days." She told her. "I was shrinking because you wanted me to look up to you. Chase started hitting on all the guys because Riley wished he wouldn't hit on girls, and Riley stopped eating...but I can't figure out what happened to Tyler."

Kendall could tell by the way Shelby noticeably shrunk into herself that it was indeed Shelby's wish that had affected him.

"So...would you mind telling me what you wished for?" Kendall asked her. Shelby didn't really want to talk about it, and with the exception of Tyler, Kendall was probably the last person she would imagine wanting to tell. However, she had a feeling that Kendall wasn't going to let the matter drop. She closed over the door, turning back to her.

"Um...if I tell you, would you mind keeping it to yourself?" Shelby asked her. Kendall just nodded in response. "The thing is, I did make a wish about Tyler. I...I wished he would see me the same way I saw him."

"You wished he would...?" Kendall started to say, before she got the idea. It hadn't escaped her notice that Tyler was a pretty decent looking guy; in fact she often put him on the counter in the cafe for exactly that reason. It wasn't the first time the place had been packed out with high school girls on the holidays when Tyler was working. Thinking back over the last few months, all Kendall could think about was that Shelby had spent a lot of time around Tyler, ever since the first time they had met. She looked to the younger girl.

"You mean, you want...Tyler?" Kendall asked her. Shelby just nodded. "OK, I guess...I guess I should have seen that coming."

"It's alright, it won't affect anything. It won't get in the way of the Ranger stuff." Shelby assured her. "It's all one way. He doesn't even notice me."

"Well, it's not an area I claim to be an expert in, but it's not like I'm completely made of stone." Kendall assured her. "I promise I'll keep this to myself, and...I guess if you need to talk or just...have a few minutes alone, you know where my office is."

"Thanks for that Ms Morgan." Shelby answered. Just then, the office phone went. Kendall picked it up.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Kendall, Gia and Cat are here." Chase told her. "They're looking for you."

"I'll be right through." Kendall replied, hanging up. "Well, I guess now we just have a wedding to plan."


	12. The Smartest One

By the time Kendall and Shelby returned, Koda, Chase and Riley were talking with Gia, Cat, and two others that they hadn't seen before, presumably guests for the wedding. One of them was a beautiful Asian girl, who wandered around, snapping pictures with her camera. The other was a big guy, standing a good couple of inches above Chase, with blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

"Wow, this place looks amazing! I can't believe all the work you put into this!" Gia gushed, seeing the way the place was decorated. Cat was so giddy, she was pretty much bouncing on the spot, with Gia barely able to restrain her. "Isn't it great Emma?"

"I have to admit, I was sceptical about the idea of having the wedding in a museum, but this is amazing!" Emma agreed. "I should be able to get some great shots for the wedding!"

"Emma's not just the maid of honour; she's also the official photographer for the day." Gia explained. "It's one of the benefits of having one of the best photographers in the country as a best friend."

"So where's the altar?" The guy asked. "I'd like to get a feel for where I'm reading from."

"You're reading the ceremony?" Chase asked.

"Orion's an Andresian preacher!" Emma explained.

"I got certified to perform weddings by the State of California a couple of months ago." Orion told them. "This'll be the first wedding I'll officially oversee."

"Wait, Orion?" Riley asked, a smile starting to cross his face. "You're Andresian and your name's Orion...Gia Moran...oh man, how did we miss this?"

"Uh...mind filling us in?" Shelby asked.

"Do you have any idea who they are?" Riley asked. "They're the Corsair Rangers!"

"Wait, what?" Chase asked, looking to them. Gia just smiled and nodded. "Wow, now I know why you said you wanted to keep things simple here."

"Yeah, we're trying to avoid publicity these days." Emma told them. "We've done the whole media thing, now we're just trying to have a quiet life."

Just then, Tyler came back, carrying the folder he'd made up detailing what they were doing for the wedding.

"Sorry it took me so long, I kind of forgot where I put..." He said, his words tailing off as he saw the party arranged before him. "Oh man, I am so dense...how did I not recognise you?"

"It's been a while Tyler." Gia chuckled, looking to the others. "We met just outside the Andresian reservation...guess you did find the museum after all."

"You also met us at the Harwood ComiCon." Emma reminded him. "He even had a sparring match against Troy."

"Is he here?" Tyler asked.

"He's coming through for the ceremony tomorrow." Emma informed him. "So, how about you show us the rest of the place?"

"Sure thing." Tyler said, gesturing them to follow him.

Up on Sledge's prison ship, Wrench was in his lab, working on his computer when Curio and Poisandra came in. Poisandra bounded over to the work bench beside him, peering over his shoulder.

"Is it ready yet?" She asked.

"I keep telling you, I'll let you know when my plan is ready." Wrench told her. Poisandra pouted as he went back to his work, ignoring her as much as he could. "There are things I just need to..."

One of the other computers bleeped, drawing his attention. He went to it, smiling as he saw the display. Poisandra just looked to it curiously.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's something I've been searching for." He told her confidently. She just looked to the screen, blinking.

"It's...it's the middle of the ocean." She commented. "There's nothing there!"

"Oh, there's something there alright." He assured her. "It's just very well hidden."

"So...is this what you've been waiting for?" She asked. He just nodded.

"We'll make our move soon." He assured her, reaching to the shelf and taking a glass jar from it. "The Rangers aren't going to know what hit them."

Back at the museum, Kendall had gone down into the lab, leaving the others to the tour. Although Kendall was curious about the previous Ranger team, having heard a lot about them from Anton and, of course, from the media, but she also knew that they had important work to do. Although she and the team worked hard, and she had done a lot to boost their abilities, their progress had hit something of a plateau since she had perfected the Dino Spike. The sad fact was that most of their arsenal was still largely inaccessible. They had hit the ceiling of what was possible with the five Energems they had. They were now at the stage; they desperately needed to find more.

The first five had been...well...the first five had been tremendously good fortune if she was honest. Koda had found his Energem hours before he was frozen in a glacier. Chase, Riley, Tyler...all of the Energems had been found more by accident than design. She knew there was a mystic element to them, that they chose who they bonded to, but she knew they couldn't rely on luck.

Unfortunately, that led her to an uncomfortable realisation. Although they needed a way to search for the Energems, she simply had no idea how. They knew the kinds of dinosaurs that the Energems had bonded to, and she knew how to search for those, but that was like trying to find a particular grain of rice in a silo. The search was laborious, and so far, it was also fruitless.

She snapped around as she suddenly became aware of someone else in the room. She saw Shelby standing before her.

"Shelby, I thought you were helping the others." She commented.

"I was, but...Emma said something that got me thinking." Shelby told her. "I have kind of an idea that I think might help us find the Energems."

"Shelby, I know they're Rangers, but we can't discuss..."

"Hey, I didn't tell them anything, Emma was just talking to us about her nature photography." Shelby assured her. Kendall just sighed.

"Look, I don't think..."

"Wasn't it just a few hours ago that you said yourself you realised I have some talents you don't?" Shelby asked her, looking a little frustrated. "I'm more than just a waitress or a tour guide, I was beginning to hope you realised that I've got a lot of ideas up here."

Kendall saw her tapping her temple with a finger to make a point. She had to concede that she had underestimated Shelby in the past, and that she had indeed acknowledged that only hours ago. She had run into an intellectual wall, and had taken her frustration at that out on Shelby. She just took off her glasses.

"OK then, I'm listening." Kendall told her. "What do you have?"

"Well...Emma was talking about how she tracks down the animals she takes pictures of for the nature magazines." Shelby told her. "She looks at what she knows about them, preferred climates, breeding grounds, food sources...then she knows where she's likely to find them."

Kendall just continued to look at her, not entirely convinced in this. What did knowing how to take a good photograph have to do with finding Energems?

"You're already scanning for the unique radiation from the Energems, but you said yourself that without knowing where to focus, it's hard to calibrate a global scan." Shelby continued. "I was thinking, we know the types of dinosaurs the remaining Energems bound to. Maybe if we write a program that would overlay that kind of information, we could focus the searches on locations they're likely to be rather than waste time digging up every random fossil we locate."

Kendall just stood for a moment with her mouth open. What Shelby had said made complete sense! She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about it before! She was so close to the research, so wrapped up in it, she hadn't been able to take a step back and think outside of the box. It seemed Shelby had managed to do that.

"A global scan of Energy signatures...highly doubtful unless..." She tailed off as she went to a computer. "Mercer industries put up a state of the art satellite communications network a few months ago. If I could convince Anton to let us borrow them..."

"You think you could actually do this?" Shelby asked, smiling a little. Kendall just turned back to her.

"No." Kendall answered, handing her a soldering iron. "But I think WE could."

"You mean it?" Shelby asked.

"You should know by now I rarely joke about anything." Kendall told her. "Now, the power output we'll need will be pretty huge, so we'll be limited to a single dinosaur at a time, and we'll need a DNA sample to work with..."

"We found an Ankylosaur a few weeks back." Shelby recalled, heading to the shelves to look out a sample.

"I guess we should start with that then." Kendall answered. "So how do you feel about the name E-tracer?"

"I love it." Shelby answered, beaming brightly as they started to get to work. Although she and Kendall had butted heads, a part of her couldn't help remembering when she heard Kendall's name for the first time, someone she had looked up to and dreamed she might get the chance to work with. It seemed that now she was getting a chance.

Back on Sledge's prison ship, Poisandra followed Wrench into the cell block as he carried the jar into another area of the cell structure. It was an area of the solitary block that was feared, even there. This was where Sledge would send those he wanted to give some very...special treatment...and that he no longer cared about the survival of. Curio was clearly hesitant to come down here, only being able to make it this far because his mistress was with him. He had memories of this place, this was where he had been created...and the ominous atmosphere at this part of the ship obviously caused some repressed memories in his component parts to surface.

"Alright, so what are we doing here?" Poisandra asked him as he brought her into another lab. This one was unlike the other one, in the main part because it seemed to house more than just chemicals and computers. This one had a whole collection of evil looking instruments lining the walls, drills, saws, blades and needles...all of which it was clear were not metal or woodworking tools! In the centre, there was a bench, which was covered with restraints, and surrounded by robotic arms. Curio pulled behind Poisandra seeing this, quivering like a leaf.

"All will be revealed soon enough, I just need one last thing to put my plan into action." Wrench told her. He set up the jar, fixing it into an opening in one of the robotic arms. As he did so, Fury came into the room with a few viviks, dragging a prisoner with him. Poisandra glared at Fury, seeing him there.

"What is HE doing here?" She demanded petulantly. It was no secret how she and Fury felt about each other. She wanted to have as little to do with him as she possibly could. The last thing she wanted was to have to rely on him, never mind share a victory with him. If Wrench did have a plan she would be a part of, she didn't want to take any chances that he would steal the glory from her.

"Believe me; I have no interest in what you're doing here." Fury sneered. "But Wrench asked for this one, and he's been causing some...problems...on C-block. I was thinking of putting him in isolation, but when Wrench asked me to bring him here, I figured that would be so much better."

The Viviks pulled the struggling creature to the bench, and started to strap him in.

"What is this?" Poisandra asked.

"I'd like you to meet Sting Rage, a creature so venomous; he even gave Master Sledge some difficulty when we finally cornered him." Wrench reminded her. When she heard the name, she felt a chill running through her. Sting Rage was an insect-like warrior, one of the most powerful of his kind. Poisandra had heard that his descendents had eventually gone on to form an empire that swept across a significant portion of the galaxy...the War Star she believed it was called. However, back then, Sting Rage had little interest in domination, merely content with the thrill of hunting, even its own kind.

The battle with Sledge had lasted for days when they finally tracked him down, and he had managed to get him with a deadly sting. Although Sledge had ended up victorious, the poison coursed through him, weakening him to the point that he was out of action for weeks. Even with his constitution, there were doubts he would survive. It was Sledge's sheer indomitable will that had brought him back from that battle.

"You want to use...him?" Poisandra asked, looking worried about this plan. "After what he did you want to risk...?"

"Oh, don't worry; he's going to be a lot more compliant this time." Wrench assured her. "Now, Sting Rage, you have a couple of choices here. You can either help us in our little endeavour, and earn your release, or I can ensure that what remains of your life is nothing but agony."

"I'll help you; I'll do anything to get off this ship." Sting Rage rushed out.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Wrench told him, beginning to start up the machines. Sting Rage struggled against his bonds as he saw the arms starting to move, brandishing an assortment of needles and drills.

"Wait, what are you doing? I said I'd do as you said!" Sting Rage rushed out. "I said..."

"Yes, you did indeed." Wrench answered as the arms started to descend in on Sting Rage. "And we'll send you, but first...I'm just going to make a few alterations. Don't worry though, by the time you recover, you'll find your new venom most useful."

Back on Earth, Chase, Riley and Tyler made their way into the Dino Lab, brimming with excitement. They'd all been interested to see how the wedding would pan out, but now that they knew that they were going to be hosting the Corsair Rangers...they couldn't believe they had already met half the team, and that in only a few hours, they would meet the rest of them.

"I can't believe that they came here of all places to have a wedding." Chase remarked as they came into the lab.

"Well, I guess it makes sense in a way, for months they were the most famous faces on the planet." Riley reminded him. "I guess Gia and Cat just wanted to avoid the whole magazine thing. You know if they didn't sell the pictures someone would just try and gatecrash to sell the pictures themselves."

"It does sound like they went to a lot of effort to keep this whole thing under wraps." Tyler replied. As he turned to look to the lab, he saw Kendall and Shelby working hard on something. "Hey, I was wondering where you two got to. You missed out on..."

"I'm sure we'll hear all the stories we could want to tomorrow." Kendall told them. "In the meantime, Shelby and I had a VERY successful day."

"Oh?" Tyler asked. "What did you...?"

"I think I'll let Shelby explain, she was the driving force behind this." Kendall answered. Shelby couldn't help grinning, hearing Kendall giving her the credit for their invention. Although Kendall had done much of the work building and programming the machine, Shelby was the one that had come up with the initial concept that led them to the E-tracer's creation.

"This is the Ankylo Charger." Shelby said, presenting it. It wasn't like the other Dino Chargers, it didn't house the Energem, they hadn't found the Aqua Gem yet, but harnessing some of the energy of the other Dino Chargers, together with Ankylosaurus DNA, they had managed to create enough energy to search for the true Aqua Gem. "It's the brain of this device we made, the E-tracer, which will be able to create a focused scan for the Aqua Gem."

Shelby fitted the Ankylo Charger into the E-tracer, starting the machine up. The Rangers all watched on, marvelling as the display started to show up a global map as it started to race through searches for the energy they were seeking.

"It's...it's working!" Riley said, seeing the readings coming back.

"It's using Mercer Industries' global satellite network to search for the Energems!" Shelby told them. "In just a matter of hours, we should know EXACTLY where to dig for the Aqua Gem."

"That's amazing Shelby, you did great!" Tyler rushed out, grabbing her and putting his arm around her before he realised what he was doing. He looked to her, seeing her just staring at him, and coughed gently, releasing her, parting from her. "Um...great work on...um...you know."

"Yeah, uh...thanks." Shelby answered nervously. "But it was a group effort. I'd never have been able to manage this without Ms Morgan."

"Well, it'll take a few hours for us to get a result from this." Kendall told them. "In the meantime, I guess we should all just go home and get ready for tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day for all of us."

"A Ranger wedding and finding an Energem...could tomorrow get any better?" Tyler rushed out, starting to feel a little uncomfortable, wanting to leave the scene before anyone thought too much about his reaction.

"I'll just be getting home too." Shelby answered. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

As she, Tyler and Kendall left the room; Riley just looked to the others.

"Uh...it's not just me, that was a little...weird right?" Riley asked.

"Koda not smart about a lot of modern things." Koda answered. "Shelby and Tyler just...not that smart."

"Sometimes Koda, I think you might just be the smartest one of us." Chase answered as they all headed for home.

**A/N: **OK folks, just a quick note to apologise for the infrequency of my updates lately. I've not been feeling too good, and I've been thinking hard about how to link this story back into the main storyline. Expect this to go very A/U across "Let Sleeping Zords Lie". Hope you like it.


	13. Morning of the Wedding

Kendall woke the next morning as her cell phone started bleeping. She'd already written a programme that linked it to the E-tracer to keep track of its progress. It was set to alert her when it got to within a certain range, giving her time to work on refining the search. She groaned as she reached across, picking up her phone and swiped her finger across the touch pad, opening it up and selecting the app to let her see what it found.

She didn't know what to make of its findings. It had limited its search for the Aqua Gem to a couple of hundred square miles already. Shelby's idea had paid off, limiting their search from pretty much the whole planet to a few hundred square miles. Of course that was like limiting the search from a whole city to a single apartment block. What troubled her most though was that so far, it insisted the Aqua Gem was somewhere in the middle of the ocean.

She somewhat hoped that something had gone wrong with the programming, and that the reading was simply wrong, but she couldn't rule it out as a possibility. The continents had broken up and drifted apart. In time, lands full of life had simply sunk into the ocean, being lost forever. It wasn't impossible to believe that was the final fate of the Ankylosaur that had been bonded to the Aqua Gem. She just sighed and put her phone down as she went to get a shower, preparing for the day ahead. It looked like she would have to figure out a way for the Rangers to dive to the ocean floor, but there wasn't much point doing so until they had a better idea where to look. The less she put her team in danger the better.

Over at a hotel a little way from the museum, Emma was running around after Gia as she threw around everything that wasn't nailed down in a blind panic.

"Gia calm down..."

"I have to find it Emma, I just HAVE to!" Gia rushed out. "God, I can't believe this, this is a disaster, this whole thing is a disaster..."

"Gia, just please try to calm down." Emma told her. Eric and Louise arrived in the room, finding Gia pretty much wrecking the place. It gave Eric memories of an old Godzilla movie he'd seen once. Louise went to her daughter, grabbing her shoulders tightly.

"Gia, try to calm down." Louise told her. "Just take a deep breath, and...tell us what's wrong."

"I've lost it." Gia told her, sinking down onto the bed. Emma just looked around.

"I'll say." She muttered.

"What have you lost?" Eric asked her.

"The bracelet Emma gave me for my sixteenth birthday." Gia told him sadly. "It was...you know... my something old."

"Gia, try to stay calm..."

"I've had it for almost four years and never lost it. I practically never take it off!" Gia interrupted him. "Maybe this is an omen, maybe this is..."

"Gia, will you quit this?" Emma said reassuringly. "It's not a big deal. It's just a superstition..."

"But it DOES matter Emma, it does!" Gia yelled out. "This day has to be perfect, it has to be..."

"Uh...is it alright to come in?" They heard a voice ask from the door. They all looked to the door as Cass; Orion's Neophyte rounded the door nervously. Eric just held Gia tightly as Louise gestured her to come in.

"It's alright Cass; we're just...having a moment." Louise assured her. "What can I help you with?"

"It's just...Jake found this last night." She told them, holding up a bracelet. Gia almost threw everyone through the walls as she barrelled across the room, taking it from Cass and gripping her in a bone-cracking hug.

"We just...uh...we didn't want to disturb you last night." She managed to squeeze out, despite Gia's bear hug. "Jake saw one of the pool attendants taking it to lost and found..."

Gia rushed out something unintelligible, kissing Cass a few times, before taking the bracelet and putting it on. Bouncing with delight at having it returned. Cass just slumped against the wall, finally able to breathe properly.

"Thanks for that Cass." Eric told her. "We were having a bit of a..."

"Believe me, we Andresians have a whole bunch of crazy rituals and superstitions, I get how important they are to people." She told him. "So...uh...I'm going to get ready..."

"The limos will be here in an hour." Eric told her. "Thanks again Cass."

As the young Andresian woman left, Louise looked to her daughter, who was only just short of needing to be sedated. She just smiled.

"So, are we all still on for today?" She asked. Gia just nodded. "Good, now...how about we start to get you dressed...and maybe straighten out this room a little."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that." Eric told her. "Looking at this place...I'd say we're pretty much screwed on the security deposit anyway."

Over at the museum, the Rangers had arrived to get the last few touches underway for the wedding. The salads and cold sides were in the fridge, all ready to go, and the ovens were on, ready to put in the food when they saw the couple arrive for the ceremony. As Tyler was just making sure the last of the floral arrangements were in place, he heard the door open. Turning around, he saw a very familiar face walking in.

"Hey Tyler." Troy greeted him as he and Allison entered the museum. "It's been a while."

"Troy..." His words were cut off as Troy launched himself at him, throwing a few blows his way. Tyler was only just able to deflect the first couple before ducking away, looking to him.

"You got faster since the last time." Troy complimented him. Tyler just nodded. That was one of the fringe benefits of the Energems.

"I've been getting a lot of practice." Tyler told him. "Is this how you greet everyone?"

"Trust me, he can't help himself around other Martial Arts nuts." Allison chuckled, driving her wheelchair over to them. "You should have seen what happened when we visited Cross World City...he'd have been arrested if he didn't have the President on speed dial."

"You're not still going on about the JB thing are you?" Troy asked her.

"Not everyone wants to spar randomly in the street Troy!" She reminded him. He just looked to Tyler, who started to stroke his forearm.

"You could at least remember not all of us have a limb made of titanium." He reminded him. Troy had worked hard to come back from his injury in the field. He'd had his leg amputated over a year ago, and had worn a below knee prosthetic made of titanium ever since. While he had taught himself to fight both with and without it, he did have to admit occasionally forgetting about it.

"Sorry, I hope I didn't bruise you up too much." Troy told him. "So, you're working here now?"

"Yeah, it's funny the way things work out." Tyler answered with a smile. "I have to admit I kind of like it here."

"It's a nice place." Troy agreed. "So, is there any chance of a drink while we wait for the happy couple?"

"I think that could be arranged." Tyler assured him. "So who all is here?"

"Well, me, Allison, Quinn and..."

Just then, Riley let out a huge yell. He looked like he was about to collapse on the spot as he saw another couple of arrivals walking in.

"NOAH CARVER!" Riley screamed as he rushed over. Noah just gave a nervous smile as Riley shook his hand frantically.

"Uh...OK, you're a fan?" He asked.

"A fan...you were AMAZING!" Riley rushed out.

"Riley, why don't you give the man his hand back?" Tyler asked, extracting Noah's hand from Riley's. "Sorry, he's a little into sword play..."

"Wait, Riley...you're Riley Griffin?" Noah asked. Riley looked like he was about to have a heart attack as Noah said his name. "Kid...the fencing boards are all lit up with your name since that tournament in Burnside."

"You...you know who I am?" Riley asked.

"Are you kidding? You entered all three events in your first tournament and got to the final in all three!" Noah reminded him. "Do you have any idea how much the boards are talking about you? Kid...you are..."

Before they knew what was happening, Riley had fallen to the floor. They all just stared at him.

"Uh...I think there's a bit of hero worship going on here." Tyler told him.

"Is he going to be alright?" Noah asked.

"He should be fine in a while." Tyler answered. "So...how about those drinks?"

In another hotel room, Cat was just putting the finishing touches to her outfit for the ceremony. She could hardly believe this day had come. When she had first laid eyes on Gia back in High School, she had fallen in love in an instant. She was perfect, a glorious combination of smart, thoughtful, brave, ambitious, and she was without a doubt the most beautiful woman that she had ever seen. She had already figured out that there was something different about her when a lot of her friends started noticing the guys in class and she never saw the appeal, but the second she saw Gia, she knew she just had to know more.

Over time, she had seen the way others looked at Gia, and while it didn't surprise her, she found herself sinking into despair. Gia could have had anyone she wanted, guys made complete idiots of themselves just to get a second of her attention. She could still remember the day that the news broke, when someone had hacked her tablet and found her private journal and published it online for everyone to see...Gia was just like her.

She heard a small knock on the door and looked around, seeing her brother Gerald coming in. He was already dressed in his suit, waiting for her.

"You look deep in thought." He told her. She just nodded.

"I'm just remembering...a lot of stuff." Cat told him. "Like, the day I gave Gia that note."

This was still one thing that she hadn't yet told Gia about. When she had been publically outed by her journal being published online, she had stood up in front of pretty much the whole school and stared them all down, daring them to say anything to her. Cat could hardly believe anyone could be so brave, so courageous. She'd already known what she felt for some time, and yet she was terrified about what people would think. She was already considered something of a freak in the school, she couldn't dream of what would happen if people knew the truth about her. She hurriedly wrote out a note, a simple website address, one that had kept her sane, or at least as sane as she ever was, and waited while the corridor emptied. She ran and pressed the note into Gia's hand, disappearing before she could see who had given it to her. It was from there Gia signed up to the Harwood Flagship, a site dedicated to support for gay and bisexual students having a difficult time dealing with high school.

"It was a gutsy move." Gerald said, sitting with his sister, putting his arm around her. "Who'd have thought it would have led here?"

"Definitely not mom and dad." Cat sighed. Gerald just held her as she thought about it. She had lived with him since her junior year in High School. When Cat finally figured out how she felt, and had seen fit to talk to her parents about it, they had not reacted well. They hadn't thrown her out, but they made it clear they believed it was just a phase, or that she would change her mind. It got so bad that eventually she had moved in with Gerald just to get away from their constant badgering for her to see things their way. Sadly, it was a rift that still existed. Her parents had refused to attend the wedding.

"Well, who cares what they think?" He asked her. "They never saw the two of you together; they always refused to meet Gia."

He turned her towards himself and smiled.

"Do you know what I remember from the first time I met Gia?" He asked her. She just shook her head. "She was the one that got you back here when that psycho jumped you for coming out. She got you back here, and she refused to leave. She stayed with you all night until I got home from night shift."

"She was pretty amazing that night." Cat admitted. He looked to her.

"I will always be a part of your life, you know that." He told her. "But it's clear to anyone with eyes and one working brain cell, you two are made for each other, and nothing will make me happier than giving you away."

Cat hugged him tightly, struggling to hold in her tears. As they parted, Gerald offered her a handkerchief.

"Now, try not to ruin your make up. You'll have all the time in the world to do that in a few hours." He assured her. "Let's go, the car will be here soon."


	14. The Harsh Sting

Kendall went into the lab, desperate to check on the E-tracer. It had now been running for several hours, and so she was sure that it had to be coming close to hitting a result. Although it was a joint project with Shelby to build it, heck it was her concept that originally came up with it, but with everyone working so hard on the wedding, and the prospect of gaining an Energem by the time the day was out, she was sure Shelby wouldn't mind if she got a head start on the search.

She pulled up the display, finding the search running. She was delighted to see that it was working, and couldn't help taking a closer look at the readings. It seemed like it was working, but on closer inspection, she couldn't help noticing that the readings were a little odd.

"OK, now that isn't right. That signal's far too strong to just be an Energem." Kendall commented as she checked out the readings on the screen.

"Too strong?" Shelby asked as she arrived. Kendall was a little startled by her arrival, but thinking about it, she couldn't really be too surprised that Shelby had the same idea. She beckoned her over, showing her the scan.

"This is what the power output looks like for one of the Energems." Kendall explained. "And this...this is the readings we're getting"

"Whoa, that is...that is pretty huge." Shelby agreed. "So if it's not an Energem, what do you think it might be?"

"Well it's too early to make any real conclusions until we get out there and start searching, but I think it might be a Zord."

"A Zord?" Shelby asked her. "But how's that even possible? The Zords only awaken when someone bonds to their Energem."

"I guess we're going to find out once we get out there and find it." Kendall surmised.

"Yeah, about that, aren't those co-ordinates in the middle of the ocean?" Shelby asked. "Last time I checked, the Ankylosaurus wasn't exactly known for being a great swimmer."

"I guess there must be an uncharted land mass out there." Kendall replied. "Like I said, I guess we'll find out once we get out there. In the meantime, we have a wedding to attend.

Elsewhere, Wrench, Poisandra, Curio and Sting Rage arrived, leaving their drop pod hidden in some woods. Poisandra just looked to him in exasperation.

"Wrench, I thought you said we were going after that energy signature." Poisandra complained. "So what are we doing in Amber Beach?"

"You'll see soon enough." He replied with a smile. He gestured to a path a little way off, where they all watched a limousine arriving. "Here we go, right on time."

They all watched as the wedding party disembarked. They had come to the park to get some pictures outdoors before heading to the museum for the ceremony.

"OK, so what do you think?" Emma asked. "The beach is only a few minutes away if you'd prefer that as a location..."

"No, this is just perfect." Gia told her. "OK, so where do you want us?"

"Um...how about the bride and the parents?" Emma asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific." Eric answered with a small chuckle. "There are two brides."

"Very funny dad." Emma responded, shoving him and Gia into position. "Here, up by this bush, the flower buds provide amazing colour."

As they stood, preparing for Emma to take the first shot, she suddenly grabbed the back of her neck.

"Ow, son of a bitch!" Emma complained.

"What is it?" Eric asked her, beginning to make his way over.

"Are you alright?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Something just stung me or bit me or something." Emma replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "Alright, let's just get these shots before the mosquitoes completely eat us alive."

From their hiding spot a little way off, Poisandra looked to Sting Rage.

"That's IT?" She asked. "That's what this new 'improved' venom does?"

"Just you wait and see." He replied as he started to head back to the drop ship.

Back at the museum, Riley started to come to, finding Shelby and Tyler standing over him. Shelby was slapping him, a little too hard given the circumstances, while Tyler was holding a glass of water.

"Uh, what am I doing on the floor?" He asked. "Shelby, why are you slapping me?"

"Shelby, I think that's enough." Tyler told her. "You kind of freaked out when you met Noah. You..."

"Oh god, don't tell me I fainted." Riley muttered. Shelby just smiled.

"Now my reaction to meeting Anton doesn't seem so embarrassing does it?" She teased him. "At least I remained conscious."

"Here, drink this." Tyler told him, offering him the glass. Riley took it and started sipping. "Are you alright?"

"I guess...I don't think I hurt myself." He replied, glaring at Shelby. "My face kind of hurts though."

"Come on, you get hit harder all the time." Shelby replied, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and yanking him roughly to his feet. Tyler just winced.

"OK, you have no future as a nurse." He stated with a little bit of a smirk.

"I'll say." Riley grumbled.

"Hey, you wanted him back on his feet, and now he is." Shelby answered. "You don't get out of working the wedding that easily. Now come on, they'll be back from the park any minute."

Meanwhile, the two limos carrying the wedding party were heading towards the museum. Gia was sitting, rubbing her shoulder.

"At least the photographs turned out great." Louise said comfortingly.

"Yeah, but trust us to pick the place where we get eaten alive by mosquitoes." Gia complained. "I just hope this bite doesn't swell up too much before the ceremony."

"Believe me, as someone who's done this twice, I can assure you as long as the right person is waiting at the other end of the aisle, everything else is pretty immaterial." Eric assured her. "When I married Eleanor practically nothing went right."

"The photographer crashed his car and broke both legs on the way to the ceremony." Louise recalled. "The registrar was so loaded with the flu no one could understand a word he was saying, the caterers got the day wrong and had to make up meals for everyone from scratch about an hour before the reception..."

"But when Eleanor and I got there, the whole thing just fell into place." Eric told them, grabbing Louise's hand. "I'd rehearsed the vows so many times it didn't matter the registrar couldn't read them, I read them myself." He concluded. "And it turns out a lot of people like DIY fajitas as a wedding feast."

"Well, I hope thing go a little smoother than THAT." Gia replied. "But thanks, it does make me feel a little better."

"Anyway, we're here." Emma told them. "So, we go in first right?"

"OK, here goes nothing." Gia said, taking a deep breath as she watched Orion leave the other limo, heading inside to take his place by the altar.

"It'll be fine Gia." Emma assured her as they got out. "Just try to relax and enjoy it."

Back in the museum, the Dino Charge Rangers had all changed for the ceremony. Kendall had figured that they should wear something more formal for the ceremony, but Cat had other ideas. Taking the dinosaur theme a little too much to heart, she had designed t-shirts and hats for them all. Kendall in particular looked somewhat less than thrilled as she just stared at the hat she was expected to wear.

"It's a Plesiosaurus." Shelby told her, straightening out her own hat.

"I can see that." Kendall sighed, putting it on. "I still feel ridiculous, but I guess at least it's accurate."

"Hey, it's just for a couple of hours. We all feel silly." Shelby assured her. "I doubt any of us are thrilled about this.

"Hey guys, isn't this great?" Tyler replied, bounding into the room with enthusiasm, his T-Rex hat, which could be described more accurately as a hood, encasing his whole head in a T-rex head, his face peering out of the open mouth. Shelby just stared at him. "Cat's got some crazy talent...maybe we could make these the new uniforms?"

"You already have uniforms." Kendall put down flatly. She looked at the way Shelby was staring at Tyler. Her smile betrayed what she was thinking. Chase came over.

"Orion and Gia's party are at the altar, the ceremony's about to start." He informed them.

"We'll be right out." Kendall assured him. As Chase and Tyler left, she just smirked.

"What?" Shelby asked.

"OK, you definitely have it bad if you still like him in THAT get up." She teased her. Shelby just shook her head.

"I think I liked it better when we didn't like each other." She replied as they went into the main room to begin the ceremony.

Gia was standing by the altar, starting to grow restless as they waited. Kendall and the others took up position as the others took their seats. Confirming that everyone was in position, Louise started up a stereo, playing Cat's choice for the wedding march. Chase just furrowed his brows.

"My Favourite things?" He whispered, clearly confused. Jake just smiled.

"It's...a long story." Jake explained. Cat appeared in the door, her brother Gerald leading her by the arm. Her flowing red hair stood out like a beacon against the long, white dress. Gia couldn't help looking back and smiling as she saw her coming down the aisle. As they got to the altar, Gerald released her, allowing her to go to Gia's side, taking her hand.

"Today, I have the great pleasure of bringing two of my most treasured friends together to be united under the law, and also in love." Orion began his ceremony. "When Gia asked that my first official wedding ceremony would be to marry her and Cat...I could not imagine a greater honour. I have had the privilege now of knowing them for some time, and I am overjoyed that they are allowing me to perform this ceremony."

He turned the page on the book in front of him, more of a ceremonial thing than anything else. He'd read the scriptures so many times that he already knew the ceremony. He began reading in his native tongue, while the happy couple just looked at each other, standing hand in hand waiting for their cue. There was a short break as Orion looked to Gerald. Emma just leaned over.

"Gerald, that's your line." Emma whispered. It was no surprise that few people on Earth knew Andresian. There had only been immigrants on the planet a little over a year, and most of them had barely left the settlement. There were a few people teaching Andresian now, but it would be a while before there were many who spoke it with any real fluency. Emma though was well on her way to becoming fluent, given her relationship with him. He looked back to Orion, seeing he was waiting.

"I am here to give her away." He told him, gesturing to Cat. She just smiled, looking back to Gia as Orion read out the next part of the ceremony. He paused again as it came time for the couple to speak.

"Gia, I tried, I really did to come up with a big speech about what you mean to me, but...for what is probably the first time, I could only come up with a few words." Cat declared as Emma handed her a ring. She slid it onto Gia's finger. "I love you, and I always will."

"Only a couple of years ago, I...I couldn't even bring myself to admit the truth about myself." Gia began. "I was so unhappy for so long, even after I finally admitted the truth, there were times I never believed I would find someone that makes me happy just being me. You saved me from that life, and even if it takes the rest of our lives, I'll spend every day trying to repay you for that. I love you, and I always will."

As Gia put the ring on Cat's finger, Orion just smiled.

"And so, by the power invested in me by the State of California, I have the great honour of presenting to you, the happy couple. You may now...oh, you already did."

Unable to wait, Gia and Cat launched into their first kiss as a married couple, while the others all stood up, applauding to congratulate them. The Dino Charge team applauded, feeling honoured at being able to share in the celebration. Cat threw out the bouquet, quite clearly aiming for Emma, but the Pink Ranger was too busy preparing her camera. Unable to grab the bouquet, it bounced off her head, before ending up landing in Jake's lap. The Green Corsair just looked around in alarm as his friends laughed at him.

"If you'd all like to come this way, the buffet's ready." Kendall announced, gesturing to the cafe. As the wedding party made their way in, the Dino Charge team gathered around Kendall.

"You know, there's nothing like a wedding to make you feel like there really is a lot of good in the world." Chase stated. The others just stared at him, a little surprised to hear him talk like that. "What?"

"So when do we begin the search?" Tyler asked.

"The E-tracer will have found the location by now, and Anton's lending us his chopper. It should be here in a couple of hours." Kendall told them. "In the meantime, I guess we can enjoy what's left of this wedding."

They filed in, making their way around the guests, who were already starting to hit the buffet, while they congratulated the happy couple. Troy brought a plate over to Allison, handing it to her as they looked over to Gia and Cat.

"I can't believe it's finally happened. They really made it." Allison said happily.

"I guess it was inevitable they would be first." Troy told her, beginning to scratch at his forearm.

"Check out Jake, he's really freaking out over catching that bouquet." Allison giggled, pointing to where he was talking rapidly to Allison. "Think she'll let him off the hook?"

"Last time I checked, she was still concentrating on her studies." Troy replied with a smile. "But she might just have a little fun with him for a while."

"Troy, you keep scratching." Allison said, looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but this bite itches like crazy." He told her, waving over Tyler. "Say, do you have some ointment or something in your first aid kit?"

"I'll see what I can find." Tyler replied, looking for the first aid kit.

FIN

**A/N:** So here it is, the end of one story...leading into the next. Hope you all enjoyed it, and don't worry, the next one will be starting soon.


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